Dog owners on Capitol Hill are getting a present just in time for the holidays!  The construction contract for Kingsman Dog Park was officially bid last week and December 17^th was the pre-bid conference.  The pre-bid conference, held at the future site of the park, gave contractors an opportunity to meet with officials from DPR, see the site for themselves, and ask technical questions.  Eight contractors attended the conference and DPR expects five or six bids to come in.

By law, the bid has to remain open for thirty days, in this case until January 11, 2010. The DC Office of Contracting and Procurement typically schedules a formal bid opening within a few days of the closing date. Sherry Frear, our contact person from DPR’s Office of Planning and Capital Projects, expects that construction will begin in mid-March 2010. 

            Since the park is getting nearer to becoming a reality, members of the Hill Hounds community may want to attend the Annual Meeting of Hill Hounds on January 21, 2010 at SOVA coffeehouse, located at 1359 H St. NE.  The meeting will begin at 7:30 pm.  The meeting will focus on finalizing design elements of the park and establishing fundraising goals for the next year. 

Tune in to WAMU, 88.5 FM, this Saturday, September 5, at 7 AM to hear me talk about Hill Hounds and Kingsman Field Dog Park. I was interviewed for a segment called "Dogs and Society: Inside Local Dog Parks" that will be airing on The Animal House this week. If you're not accustomed to being awake at 7 AM on Saturday, you can also find the program posted on http://wamuanimalhouse.org shortly after it airs.

Here's some more information about the program:

The Animal House is a weekly discussion that explores the latest in animal science, pet behavior, and wildlife conservation. We hope to deepen human understanding of animals and explain the powerful bonds that link us to the animal world. Our goal is to be fun, substantive, and appealing to a broad audience -- both those with pets and those without them.

A big thanks to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation for granting $2,500 to Hill Hounds to contribute to amenities at Kingsman Field Dog Park! Here's some information about this great organization from their website:

The Capitol Hill Community Foundation draws on the generosity and idealism of our neighborhood to help build a stronger and more caring community—a place where families can flourish and where every resident can share in a better future.

We support activities, projects and organizations that enrich the lives of residents and celebrate the history of our Capitol Hill community.

Since its founding in 1989, the Foundation has directed more than $4 million to a broad range of projects. Funded entirely by annual donations from members and friends of the community, the Foundation proudly directs every dollar contributed to grants. All administrative costs are covered by the members of the Board of Directors.

Last night, ANC6A voted to give its support to the preliminary design for Kingsman Field Dog Park.  Sherry Frear, the landscape architect from DPR who has been working with Hill Hounds in the design process, presented the design to the commissioners. 

DPR hopes to break ground on the dog park in late Fall 2009.  However, Ms. Frear informed Hill Hounds that the process for vetting construction bids is handling more volume than usual right now and that delays may push the project into Spring 2010. 

A representative from the Department of Parks and Recreation will be presenting the preliminary design concept for Kingsman Field Dog Park, which Hill Hounds has been working on with the agency, at the ANC 6A Meeting this Thurdsay. If you are interested in hearing about the plan, come to the meeting March 12 at 7:00 pm at Miner Elementary School. This meeting is to secure ANC approval for the basic design of the park so that DPR can formally bid out the design and construction contracts to an outside firm. This outside firm will be responsible for drawing up more detailed plans.

The current design concept can be found at http://www.hillhounds.com/uploads/KINGSMAN_DESIGN_I_12500SF.pdf

The agenda for the meeting can be found at http://www.anc6a.org/agendas/ANCA0309.pdf