By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEWPORT — The Town of Newport will be moving forward with their dog park and community garden project. After receiving a grant from the AARP Community Grant Challenge, the town now has enough funding to complete the project.
Plans for the park began in earnest last year when former economic coordinator Christine Benner applied for grants, as well as entering the town in a national competition. The competition, Pet Safe’s “Bark for your park” competition, awarded five communities nationwide each a $25,000 grant toward building the park.
“The plan had originally been to build a dog park and that blossomed into doing a dog park and community garden. The town is looking forward to having a place for people and visitors to come and enjoy the community,” said Theresa Lavoie, an employee with the Town of Newport.
The park and community garden will be in a town owned lot on John Stark Highway, next to Advanced Auto Parts. The now vacant green sits alongside the Sugar River. Now that Newport has received the necessary funding, landscapers will begin clearing and brush hogging the area, to get a better concept of the lay of the land. After staking the property, the components of the dog park, such as fencing, can begin to be installed. Both volunteers and the town will have a hand in maintaining both spaces. Residents of Newport have been looking forward to utilizing a dog park since the announcement was made last year.
“As a proud dog dad, I like the idea. There’s really no dog parks in our area beside Enfield that I know of where you can let your dogs roam free in a safe environment without a leash. As long as the money they’re using is spent wisely and caters to the amenities that make a dog park nice, things like fencing, double gated entrances, trash cans, then I’m all for it,” said Newport resident Aj Kosch.
The recent AARP community challenge grant accepted roughly 3,200 applicants and awarded grants to 280 communities. This grant has not only been described as, “the capper that brought us over the finish line,” but will also help to make the park and garden accessible to all residents of Newport. With the funding they will make both areas ADA compliant, by installing ADA compliant benches and raised bed gardens, while also making walkways ADA compliant as well.
In a press release the Town of Newport stated, “Newport recognizes the importance of having accessibility to fun, safe, and quality recreation for all ages. The town dog park will offer the ability to get outdoors and enjoy nature for all of our residents and their four legged friends. The community garden will allow our residents who do not have access to gardening space to grow their own vegetables and/or flowers.”
This is the second time Newport has received the AARP community challenge grant. The first was used for trail kiosks set up along Newport’s many trail systems, including one that follows the Sugar River. In the application process, the town is asked a series of questions such as “why do they want it?, “what will it be used for?”, and “why does the town need it?”
The town of Newport population is made up of over 50% people that fall into the range of low to moderate income, a spokesperson for the town said that without these grants a dog park would not have been possible.
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