West Philadelphia dog owners may soon have a new place where they can play with their furry friends. A popular neighborhood dog park at 43rd and Locust streets was moved from the site last January to make room for the Penn-assisted pre-K-8 school, which broke ground this month and is set for a partial opening in September. The University City Dog Owners Group has said it is getting closer to a deal with the Park Pleasant Nursing Home that would allow for a temporary dog park at 48th and Chester streets. "We're working with them and they're interested, but they don't have it as definite yet," UCDOG president Linda Amsterdam said. "I think they're very interested in increasing the foot traffic in that area, which increases security." Administrators at the Park Pleasant Nursing Home could not be reached for comment yesterday. UCDOG's ultimate goal, Amsterdam said, is to establish and maintain several dog parks in the area, with other possible locations at Clark Park, Woodland Cemetery and the corner of 47th Street and Kingsessing Avenue. Since the closing of the old location, members and their dogs have been using other open green spaces, such as Clark Park and Schuylkill Park, but Amsterdam said these parks are not optimal because there is no fenced-in area to keep the dogs out of the street and away from other park users. "People who are afraid of dogs are afraid to use the park when they're there and that limits the park's availability to everyone," she said. "Having a fenced area is a place where dogs can run free and a contained area where dogs can be controlled." UCDOG, formed last January, is currently seeking non-profit status. Since its conception, the organization has been raising money for a new park. Members like Florence Selvin, however, think of UCDOG as more of a community group than a fundraising organization. "The club was originally founded because of the dog park, but it does other things now," Selvin said. "It's a community effort also to make people aware that dog owners on the whole are responsible people. We care about our dogs, we care about our neighborhood." She described one member, for example, who would come to the old location at the end of the day with a handful of plastic bags to clean up after some of the park's less responsible dog walkers. "That's just the way the people are," she said. "They appreciated the park and know they have to do things to make it more pleasant to sit there." She added that, while there was always a certain core group, UCDOG was always changing as Penn changed. Each new school year and summer brought new students, professors, and faculty members into contact with the community. Amsterdam agreed. "It was actually a nice social group," she said. "People would come everyday at the same time... it was kind of a community gathering place, like a social hour."
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