Costa Mesa’s dog park gets a bit of sprucing up

Costa Mesa staffers recently made a series of changes to the city’s Bark Park, including an expansion of the small dog section.

The off-leash, 2-acre facility on Arlington Drive was closed earlier this month to make way for the roughly $15,000 worth of upgrades.

In an interview Thursday, city Recreation Manager Travis Karlen noted how the small dog section was increased by about 2,500 square feet by moving the fence between it and the large dog section.

There are more picnic tables throughout the park, he added, and a new Bark Park logo on its own flag and a banner near the entrance fence.

City crews also replaced broken chairs with new ones and installed decorative dog silhouettes on the fences.

“We’re just in the beginning stages” of improvements, Karlen said.

Other additions coming to the Bark Park include: hiring a part-time maintenance worker, whose sole focus will be the dog park; replacing two display kiosks, which will be monitored to only include pet- and animal-related messages; and replacing metal trash cans with ones made of recycled plastic.

They’re better for the dogs that go where they gotta go — city staff say the plastic won’t rust from urine.

The city also hopes to install new water bowls, Karlen said. In the meantime, crews have spruced up the existing bowls, which are self-filling, and tore out the weeds that had been growing around them. Rocks are in their place.

Alongside the changes coming to the Bark Park, city officials said they’re looking for input from park users and the Bark Park Foundation, which used to run the facility.

Richard Reinbolt of Huntington Beach visited the park Thursday with his cocker spaniel mix, Marae. He said he likes the Bark Park additions and the attention it’s getting.

“But for some reason they took out of my favorite shade tree,” he added.

Karlen said there was a recently damaged tree in the small dog park section. Crews unsuccessfully tried to save it, he said.

The city may plant more trees in that section in the future, Karlen said.

Costa Mesa resident Mellisa Donaldson came to the park Thursday as well. While holding her Chihuahua, Bambi — whose tiny eyes squinted in the sun — Donaldson said she had lingering concerns about security there.

“I’ve seen guys out here smoking pot,” Donaldson said. “We have kids coming out here. It’s not cool.”