Pooch park under construction at Chaffee Crossing

A new dog park should be completed in the Chaffee Crossing area of Fort Smith just in time for dogs to enjoy spring weather. ERC Holdings is building the park, which will cost a little over $100,000 and will be conveyed to the city of Fort Smith once it is complete.

The park, located on Veterans Avenue, will feature two separate areas: One for small breeds and one for large breeds/exercise area. The exercise area will feature “all sort of activities for the dogs to enjoy,” said Nicole Swanson with ERC.

The exercise area will have tractor tires, a ramp, tubes, and slaloms. There will be benches in both areas for people accompanying the dogs to the park, and a dual water fountain with a faucet for humans and a bottom basin for the dogs, Swanson said. The area will also include sidewalks and a parking lot.

“ERC bought land from behind Bost all the way to Roberts Boulevard. They are developing that land, but the dog park area is under the existing cell tower on Veteran’s Avenue. You can’t build under (a cell tower),” said Lorie Robertson, director of marketing for the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority. “It was their decision to turn (the area) into an amenity that would be open to the people in the area.”

Robertson said city officials were excited about the park because it is near the trails at Chaffee Crossing and the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center.

“There has been a lot of land development out here, both residential and commercial. A lot of those in the commercial end of things bring their dogs with them to work. We think this will be great for them and the residents,” Swanson said. “This is a great opportunity for us to give something back to the community. We are very excited about it.”

If weather cooperates, the park should be complete and ready to donate to the city for use as a public park by mid to late February, Swanson said, noting it would definitely be completed in time for spring.