WOODS CROSS—Is Fido just itching to have a place to run around and meet new friends? How about a dog park? North Salt Lake City and Woods Cross City have joined together to build one on the border of the two cities at 2180 W. 2425 South, Woods Cross. The new park is an expansion of Legacy Dog Park at the same location.

The new park will be named Flash Cairo after two police dogs – Flash in Woods Cross and Cairo in North Salt Lake. 

“It’s cool that we can pay homage to those dogs,” said David Frandsen, North Salt Lake Assistant City Manager. “Both canines were amazing and worked in both communities.”

The park sits on Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) property. “It’s unused property so it’s nice to find a good use for it,” he said. “It’s a retention basin and it will continue to work as that.”

Woods Cross has a lot of basins, said Woods Cross Public Works Director, Sam Christiansen. “In the case of this summer we haven’t had much rain but it will still act as a basin. Hatch Park (North Salt Lake) has a retention basin. It’s a multi-purpose use which is a big benefit for both cities.”

Dogs are not allowed at Legacy Park because of the water park, said Frandsen. “Now we have a place for people to take their dogs.”

“There’s also access to the trail,” said Christiansen. “Dogs can go off leash in the park and run around.”

They’re still working out all of the details but the plan is to have a small dog area and a big dog area. “Small dogs would be up to 25 pounds and the large dogs, 25 pounds and higher,” Christiansen said. “We expect the dogs to be under human control at all times. We don’t want aggressive dogs. We want responsible owners.”

The park will be on the animal control map, he said. “They can’t be there all of the time but they’ll check in. Any dog related issues will go to dispatch. We expect owners to be self policing and an officer will respond as soon as they can.”

Amenities will include ADA ramps, drinking fountains, a shade structure and bench for owners to watch their dogs, said Christiansen. “There will also be doggy bags. Owners are responsible for cleaning up.”

“Eventually we’d like to put in obstacles and an agility course,” said Frandsen. “Things that are fun for dogs but low maintenance for the city staff. Between the two cities we’ll weed and maintain grass control, empty garbage cans, etc.”

It’s plumbed for a restroom, he said. “But we’re not doing that yet. We planted trees last year. We’ll keep adding onto it.”

The cities have been looking at other dog parks to determine what works or doesn’t work. “We’ve learned that in other cities that have had grass it’s a constant problem to keep it alive,” said Christiansen. “The concentration of dogs is hard on it. Draper had grass for two years or so and stopped trying to keep the grass alive. It died off.”

Bountiful had grass in their park, he said. “It was too much to maintain so they threw bark down. We’re trying to balance amenities and cost.”

There is no set date yet for completion. “After all three areas open we’ll continue to look at adding trees, etc.” Frandsen said. “We don’t view this as a finished project.” 

Props to both city councils for working together, he said. “It’s complicated enough with one but two?”

Employees are working hard on this, said Frandsen. “We’ve saved a lot of money by doing most of the work ourselves. It benefits both cities.”