By Jacob Dimond
jake@yelmonline.com
Local dog owners will soon have a park in Yelm to take their four-legged companions to play, exercise and socialize with other dogs as the new dog park is expected to be finished and usable by the end of January.
Cody Colt, City of Yelm’s public works director, said there are several remaining projects within the dog park to be completed before it can open next month, including pouring asphalt to finish the parking lot, wrapping posts with fencing, completing covered picnic areas and adding a watering station.
“We’re about 70 percent complete. They should be done early next month in January. We’ll have to come back and plant grass because you can’t do that in winter successfully,” Colt said. “But the dog park should be functional by the end of next month.”
He added the City is currently under budget for the project, which he described as being a good thing to run into.
Aside from some poor weather with “torrential downpours” causing slowed progress for several days at the job site, Colt said construction workers haven’t encountered any issues. He added once the park is complete in January, the City will host a soft opening to allow for the community to come check it out. He added a formal ribbon-cutting opening is being planned for the early spring.
“The dog park will be open after the soft opening, but the formal ribbon cutting will happen once all the landscaping is installed,” Colt said. “There’s a large number of residents that live in apartments or don’t have yards of their own. This will provide them with new opportunities for their dogs. This park has the ability at some point to host a dog show or dog performance, so that’s a cool opportunity as well.”
With the park’s opening date closing in, Yelm City Councilor Joshua Crossman, with his own time, money and resources, built a large welcome sign to display at the front of the dog park, which is located on Rhoton Road.
“He totally, out of his own pocket and time, made the sign that greets you as you enter the dog park,” Colt said. “It makes for a great addition to our park.”
Crossman said he was approached by Colt, who told the councilor that the City was looking for someone to create and donate a sign for the dog park. Crossman agreed to the idea and eventually created a design. After some tweaks, a general idea of what the sign would look like was created, and the councilor went to work.
“Being a hardwood flooring craftsman, I find that woodworking in different aspects helps to sharpen my skills,” Crossman said. “I purchased a couple sheets of MDO plywood from Mountain Lumber and exterior paint. At first, I was going to cut everything out with a jigsaw, but earlier this year I was at a wood-flooring trade show and purchased a Shaper Origin, which is basically a handheld CNC machine.”
Crossman added he thought this project would be a good time to learn how to use the Shaper Origin machine, which is used to cut various shapes into materials, as he has several projects coming up in which he’ll need to use it to cut a logo into a hardwood floor.
Crossman, who owns PTL Hardwood Floors in Yelm, said the project took several days to cut everything out and to assemble the sign itself. After piecing the sign together and adding a few coats of paint, the sign was complete.
“It was a great opportunity to give something to my local community to help make it unique and beautiful,” he said.
