Metro Water Services (MWS) and Metro Parks held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning to celebrate and announce the opening of the Central Dog Park which is adjacent to the Central Water Reclamation Facility at 1616 Third Ave. N.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell, MWS Director Scott Potter, and Metro Parks Director Monique Odom were in attendance.
The Central Dog Park is an idea that formed through the community meeting process with the Historic Germantown and Salemtown neighborhoods to bring collaborative planning and design to the Treatment Plant Capacity Improvements and Combined Sewer Overflow Reduction project. The $400 million upgrade of the, now named, Central Water Reclamation Facility will help prepare Nashville to grow into the future and better protect the environment, while improving quality of life for all who live and work here.
“When your largest neighbor comes out and says, ‘There's a $400 million capital project dealing with water treatment’ but then says, ‘How can this better serve the community?’, it's a really important moment,” said Mayor Freddie O’Connell. “The architectural features of an otherwise industrial project had a lot of community input and means that as you are now venturing up 3rd or coming into town from Metro Center, what you see is not just something industrial but reflective of the beauty of a place like Omohundro, which reminds us that public works can, in fact, serve the public interest from a standpoint of community engagement and ultimately, beauty.”
In addition to Central Dog Park, the following improvements have been made to the Third Ave N corridor in coordination with input from the surrounding neighborhoods:
- A new recreation area with water features provides children a much-needed outdoor play area to enjoy outdoor activities and #DiscoverWater;
- Two new sheltered bus stops provide WeGo riders a comfortable and safer boarding area;
- Improved lighting and landscaping make the area more inviting and increase visibility and safety;
- An activity lawn provides residents a community gathering space to enjoy the outdoors;
- Walkways and bike racks provide better and safer options for pedestrians and cyclists;
- Fencing provides protection to those enjoying these new amenities.
“These improvements were all made possible through collaboration with the neighborhoods and partnerships with various Metro Departments” stated MWS director Scott Potter, “I want to thank the community for their input, patience, and trust as we constructed this large-scale project in the backyard of a rapidly growing neighborhood”.
“This facility helps us answer the ongoing call for more dog parks in the city,” said Metro Parks Director Monique Horton Odom. “This park also helps us fulfill our mission to sustainability and equitably provide everyone in Nashville with an inviting network of parks (in this case dog parks), that offer health, wellness, and quality of life through recreation, conservation, and community. We want people to enjoy this great amenity and the best way to do that is to be familiar with the rules that are designed to help make our dog parks safe and inviting welcoming for people and their pets.”
Attendees also learned about the importance of scooping their pet’s poop and were given free pet waste bag dispensers.
To learn more about the optimization of the Central Water Reclamation Facility and our commitment to meeting the needs of a growing city in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, visit our virtual open house: Central Water Reclamation Facility Open House