By Coral Gables Gazette staff
Hundreds of dog owners and their four-legged companions turned out on a brisk Saturday morning to celebrate the long-awaited opening of a new dog park along The Underline in Coral Gables.
The Chewy Bark Park officially opened January 31, drawing crowds of residents, local leaders, and pet lovers eager to explore the city’s first dog park located within The Underline linear park system. Despite the chilly weather, dogs of all sizes frolicked across the park as owners gathered for the event, with event organizers estimating that over 500 people visited the park on its first day.
A decade in the making beneath the Metrorail
Located at 4579 Ponce de Leon Blvd, just east of Le Jeune Road, adjacent to the Life Time building on Ponce de Leon Boulevard, the park which is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. sits beneath the Metrorail guideway and represents the culmination of more than a decade of planning and coordination.
City leaders and partners celebrate milestone
City commissioners, county officials, and representatives from Broward-headquartered online pet retailer Chewy and Friends of the Underline joined the celebration, which featured a ceremonial “leash-cutting” surrounded by excited dogs and their owners.
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago called the opening a realization of a vision first imagined by past Coral Gables commissioners more than 10 years ago. He thanked Friends of the Underline, Chewy, Miami-Dade County, and city staff for working together to make the project a reality.
Lago also singled out Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson , who showed up with her own adopte four-legged friend, for her advocacy on behalf of dog parks since her election five years ago. He pointed out that Coral Gables, which once had no designated dog parks, is on track to have as many as six open by the end of the year.
Vendors, adoptions and dog-friendly features
The opening event included a variety of pet-focused vendors offering products and resources, along with adoption opportunities and local food options. Dogs were quick to test out the park’s features, which include separate play areas for small and large dogs, agility elements designed to promote safe activity, as well as hydration and waste stations throughout the fenced space.
The Underline continues to take shape
The Chewy Bark Park marks the company’s first-ever dog park and underscores the growing role of tThe Underline as a destination for recreation and community gathering. For Coral Gables residents and their pets, the new park offers a dedicated space to play, socialize, and enjoy the outdoors.
Eulois Cleckley, CEO of The Underline, said that 60 percent of the linear park was complete with the rest to be finished by the end of the year. Several major sections in the Gables, including large sections from Riviera Drive west to the University of Miami campus remain under construction.
A growing network of pet-friendly parks
The opening of Chewy Bark Park adds to a growing network of pet-friendly spaces across Coral Gables. The city currently allows leashed dogs in 27 public parks, while off-leash options include a sandy dog area at Salvadore Park, a fenced dog park at the 1505 Ponce development, and a small-dog park adjacent to the Villa Valencia Condominiums. City officials are also planning another off-leash park near the Coral Gables public library, a proposal that has drawn opposition from some nearby residents.
This Post Has 7 Comments
This is great and should be supported, but to place a dog park in a residential area is not acceptable. 100 plus people do not want a dog park next to their homes, which will lower property values, increase traffic and create noise. But again our arrogant Mayor is pushing through another park against residents wishes. Do another Underline, but stay out of our neighborhoods !!!
It’s vice mayor lago who is pushing it
Why doesn’t anyone use the Salvadore Park dog park?
Because nobody like getting their dogs full of sand and then putting them in your car. Terrible dog park and it was all Rhonda’s idea.
Great for the aminals. A nightmare for the residents close to the park.
The Underline bark park is a great idea. It doesn’t abut anyone’s home and uses underutilized space outside of residential neighborhoods.
No bark park should ever be built adjacent to anyone’s home!
In 2019, before Rhonda Anderson was elected, she was interviewed about the proposed Underline Bark Park. Her comments at that time: “It’s in a location where it’s not going to bother anyone. No residents are going to be affected.”
Today, she’s pushing a bark park on University Drive across from the library, which would back up onto the homes on Cadima and Riviera, and also impact the homes across the street on Cadima and Harlano. Those residents are emphatically against the creation of a bark park, as it would “bother” and “affect” them, but their objections are being ignored by the now Vice Mayor.
Our elected officials should be listening more closely to the residents they are supposed to be representing.