McMinnville Opens Dog Park

The first dog park in the city of McMinnville opened Wednesday.

McMinnville’s Director of Parks and Recreation Scott McCord said the park has been in the works for about two years. He said opening the park is a plus for the entire community.

“One of our biggest problems in the past were we had dog owners that would use our ball fields,” McCord said. “Just set their dogs free on our baseball and softball fields. That was one of the biggest complaints when I came here 8-and-a-half years ago.”

The city received a $25,000 grant from the Boyd Foundation to help build the park. McCord said University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd will be in McMinnville on August 25 for the park’s official grand opening.

The new dog park is located across the street from Pepper Branch Park on Old Morrison Road in McMinnville.

McCord said there was a lot of community support for the park.

“We’ve had several people that have pushed for it,” McCord said. “And we’ve had people post online comments wanting it. Also, we have a large civic organization to deal with the stray dogs and finding homes for them. We usually have a big, not this year because of the pandemic, but we usually have a doggie day in the pool and we usually draw anywhere from 50 to 60 dogs for that event.”

The dog park features multiple enclosures for both small and large dogs. Each area includes fountains to help keep the dogs cool during hot weather.

“There’s about a 120-by-90-feet (enclosure),” McCord said. “There’s a small section, a large section, and a double-gated entryway for both partitions. You’ll find a water fountain. There’ll be a weigh station with trash bags, bench seating, and trees for shade.”

The McMinnville Dog Park will be open daily from dawn to a half-hour before sundown.