There’s a new place where pups can play in Plant City.
Last Saturday’s grand opening of Ruff Ridge Dog Park, located behind Field Nine at Mike E. Sansone Community Park, enticed dozens of pups (and their owners) to visit the new playground for pooches.
The park is divided into two separate, fenced-in areas, one for small dogs (Small Dogs Sierra for dogs 25 lbs. and under) and one for large dogs (Big Dogs Bluff). In both areas there’s plenty of space for running and games of frisbee. Benches and picnic tables are on site for resting and shade trees offer a respite from the Florida sun. The drinking fountain is built to hydrate both humans and canine guests. To keep the park clean, a dog waste station with baggies and a trash can is available near the gate.
Ruff Ridge Dog Park is the second dog park in Plant City. “We listened to resident feedback that Plant City needed a dog park with more space,” said Parks and Recreation director Julie Garretson. “The large dog park is almost the length of a football field with ample room for all the fun stuff dogs want to do.”
The vacant lot is the former location of a girl scout camp that had been razed. With a budget of $65,000, Garretson, her team and other city employees had to get creative to keep costs from skyrocketing. The cost of fencing consumed the majority of the budget at $40,000.
“When we did the budget for this project it was right at the beginning of COVID and prices have skyrocketed since then so we did a lot of things ourselves,” said parks superintendent Wayne Meyer. “Three of us used to be park rangers for Hillsborough County and you had to do everything yourself so that’s kinda what we did out here.”
He and others put their woodworking skills to use by constructing the signs and benches in-house. They purchased picnic table kits from Lowe’s and put them together. The general services team installed the water fountains. Employees in Streets and Stormwater built hills in parts of the park. The city’s horticulturist landscaped the area. The team got a culvert pipe from the fire department that they had lying around. The rock boulder used to be on the playground at Ellis-Methvin Park. “When it was removed from that park I put it off to the side because I knew we’d be able to use it somewhere,” he said.
Garretson said it was a passion project for the team. “They really knocked it out of the park,” she said.
Dog owners seem to agree.
Cork residents Enrique, Arlene and Nathan Munoz saw the announcement about the grand opening celebration on the city’s Facebook page and decided to join in the festivities with their five-year-old dog Lola. “We’re trying to help her get used to other dogs because she doesn’t get out much,” said Enrique Munoz. “This is our first time visiting the dog park and we love it, so does Lola, she likes the tunnel and the rock.”
Munoz also appreciates the extra touches like the water fountain with a special bowl for dogs, that drains into a nearby retention pond. “I like that the water drains out so it doesn’t sit in there and get nasty,” he said.
Lakeland resident Nick Matta brought his two Harlequin Great Danes, Roman and Milkshake, to the grand opening. “Bringing them to a park like this is ideal because they like to play with other dogs,” he said.
In time, Garretson hopes to install more amenities.
Ruff Ridge Dog Park is open seven days a week, sunrise to sunset. Visitors can enter the park at South Park Road and scan a QR code at the kiosk for directions to the parking lot.