The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted 6-1 on Wednesday night to approve a $191,408 contract with the Derau Construction Co. to construct an off-leash dog park next to Kings Highway, behind a park operation building on W. 38th Street.
The total cost for the park, which was hotly debated for two years, will run about $215,000. The cost estimate doubled from last year because park officials said they need to install a crushed granite base in the dog park rather than wood chips, because the chips could wash into a nearby retention pond and damage pumps used to move the water into storm sewers.
If weather permits, park officials would like to install fences and temporarily open the dog park by early next month, then close it for three to five weeks in the spring for construction. The completed dog park would probably reopen in June 2013.
RANDY FURST
