Dog Park Progess Update

The Columbia Heights Dog Park sits on property owned by WMATA, which allowed us to use the space for our dog park since 2009.  In late-2023, after years of our advocacy, the District signed a 10-year lease with WMATA that will allow the park to become an official DC dog park and allow the District to upgrade the space.

The dog park application is now formally moving along, and in March the application was noticed in DC Register for public comment. 11th & Bark submitted a letter of support for the dog park.

In addition, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is now working with the Department of General Services (DGS) to identify and procure a contractor for this project.  Once that happens, DPR will begin the formal community engagement process for the project. 

11th & Bark 2022 Annual Meeting

11th & Bark held its 2023 annual meeting on Tuesday, September 19. We were pleased that Council Member Brianne Nadeau and ANC Member Anthony Thomas-Davis joined us to make an exciting announcement—the District’s Department of General Services (DGS) signed the lease with WMATA to take control over the park. The next step in the process is for WMATA to sign the lease. And then, DGS will begin determining what must be done to renovate the park.

At the meeting, we also discussed our prior and upcoming cleanups and other events, shared aour financial report, reminded people about park etiquette, and how to get involved with the park.

You can see the powerpoint slides from the meeting here.

New Board Members

We are excited to announce that the 11th & Bark board recently voted to add three new members. Hailey Duncan, and Fio Briceño joined our Board as new members. Taylor Popielarz also joined the Board and agreed to serve as Secretary–a post previously held by long time Board Member, Eva Guenther. Baird Wallace left the Board, as he moved to a different DC neighborhood and welcomed his new daughter to the world.

Say hi to Hailey, Fio, and Taylor if you see them at the park. To read more about them and our other board members, check out our Who We Are page.

Hailey & Luca

Taylor & Bonnie

Fio & Duke

The Dog Park Application Has Been Submitted!

We submitted the dog park application today! Thanks so much to everyone in the community for their amazing support for the park.

The submitted application includes:

• More than 500 signatures and more than 60 statements of support from people in the community. 

• Letters of support from eleven local businesses, nine of which are on 11th Street and within a block or a few blocks of the park, and three local nonprofit organizations.

  • Businesses: Queen’s English, Red Rocks, The Coupe, El Chucho, Odd Provisions, Wonderland, Ossobuco, Makan, Patrick’s Petcare, District Dogs, Leslie Knows Homes (realtor)

  • Nonprofits: Community Wellness Alliance, District Bridges, GreenSpaces for DC

• A letter of support from the ANC1A

To gain this support from the community, we did a lot of community outreach, including:

• We distributed approximately 500 flyers to the homes surrounding the park, providing them with information about the park application; 

• We attended the Columbia Heights Farmers Market to inform people about the park application and to collect signatures; 

• We reached out to large apartment buildings, condo buildings, and a senior home in the area to ask their buildings managers to share information about the park application with their residents. These include Victory Heights, Monroe Tower, Columbia Heights Square, Kenyon Square Condominiums Arcade Sunshine, Park Place, Park Triangle, Highland Park, and 1020 Monroe St NW Condos;

• We held happy hours at Midlands and Hook Hall to inform people about the park application and collect signatures;

• We took several 2-hour shifts at the dog park to inform people about the park application and collect signatures; 

• We attended Open Streets and spoke to people in attendance there; and

• We provided information on our website and shared information on our email listserv and on our social media platforms--FaceBook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

What happens next? The application will be published in the DC Register and there will be a 30-day period for public comment. DPR will then review the application and the comments and will issue a recommendation. There is no time limit on them. But After DPR issues a recommendation, it must notify us within 30 days. 

We will let you know when we hear from the District.

ANC 1A Unanimously Passed Resolution Supporting the Park

Last night the ANC 1A passed a resolution that both supported our dog park application and supported 11th and Bark being an official “Friends of”group for the park. This resolution required for our “Friends of” application and our dog park application.

New ANC Commissioner, Brandolon Barnett sponsored the resolution. After a few questions from the commissioners and a short presentation from the Chair of 11th & Bark, Commissioner Barnett moved to pass the resolution and Commissioner Dottie Wade Love seconded the motion. The motion was then passed unanimously.

We are so grateful to Commisioner Barnett for supporting both the park and 11th & Bark. And we are pleased that the first resolution he passed as a Commissioner was related to our park.

We are now one step closer to becoming an offical District Dog Park.

One Step Closer to Having an Official Dog Park

We have great news to share! The DC Council’s FY2022 budget, approved by the Council on August 3, includes full funding for the build out of the dog park. This budget allocation, combined with the fact that the District is close to finalizing a lease with WMATA, is a huge milestone in making the park an official District dog park. 

The lease and budget allocation are a big win for the community. They will not only ensure that members of the community have a safe space for our dogs, but will also allow us to maintain a valued meeting place where Columbia Heights and surrounding community residents interact with their neighbors, make new friends and feel a sense of community. Furthermore, it will preserve green space in our neighborhood, which is already greatly lacking.

The budget allocation is for $1 million, which is based on the Department of Parks and Recreation’s estimate of how much it will cost to improve the park. The funds will be in place at the start of the new fiscal year, which begins this October. 

We owe great thanks to all of you who have supported and advocated for the park the last several years. We also owe great thanks to Chairman Mendelson and other members of the Council for their efforts. In particular, we should thank Councilmember Nadeau, who has continued to support the park throughout the years, even when we faced unexpected twists and turns with WMATA. 

Please click here to thank the Members of the Council.

The process to make the park official isn’t over yet. We are currently putting together the formal dog park application, which we must submit to the Department of Parks and Recreation. If you haven’t signed the application yet, your next opportunity to do so is at Hook Hall on August 17 , 2021 from 6:00-8:00pm. 

Dog Parks Are Back Open!

The Mayor has reopened all District parks, including our dog parks.

Please adhere to social distance rules. Stay safe. Protect others. Be kind.

All Dog Parks Temporarily Closed

The Mayor has temporarily ordered all dog parks closed temporarily to help slow the spread of COVID-19. We are not an official District dog park, but we urged people who use the park to abide by the Mayor’s order. Let’s stay safe!

Is No News Good News?

In May, WMATA wrote to the District to announce it was ending the auction to sell the park and would instead negotiate with the District. The letter specified that WMATA expected to close on the sale of the property possibly by the end of August, and no later than December 31, 2019. September is here and we have no news on the purchase, other than hearing it is moving along. Today, therefore, the 11th and Bark Board sent a letter to the Mayor inquiring about any progress in the sale. We will let you know if we find out any additional information.