Framingham To Unveil Dog Park Plans At Community Meeting

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham in June will take a big step toward building the city's first formal dog park: the parks department will unveil a final design for the facility that will be built at Farm Pond Park.

The quest for a dog park in Framingham dates back years to the founding of the FRAMBark group, but the effort picked up steam in 2020 when the city hired a firm to scout a location for the potential park.

After looking at several sites, the parks department, with community input, decided that an approximately one-acre portion at the south end of Farm Pond Park would be an ideal site. In March, Framingham won a $23,000 grant from the Stanton Foundation — a nonprofit that has helped fund numerous dog parks in Massachusetts, including the new one in Natick — to begin designing the park.

Parks officials estimate the Farm Pond dog park will cost about $262,000. Framingham is also seeking a $225,000 Stanton Foundation grant for construction, and wants to use about $25,000 from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for additional costs.

The final design will be unveiled during a June 10 community meeting via Zoom. You can sign up to attend on the parks department website.