SPOKANE, Wash. – Six years after promising a new dog park on the South Hill to replace the outgoing unofficial dog park, Spokane Public Schools has finalized their 1.6-acre design.

“It’s been a lengthy process,” SPS Chief Operating Officer Shawn Jordan told a crowd at Carla Peperzak Middle School on Thursday evening. “We appreciate those of you who have been with us through this lengthy process to come up with a solution. It has not been easy.”

For neighbors who had initial fears about the park, SPS and the Spokane Parks Department heard their concerns. Over the course of the design phase, they added an eight-spot parking lot, fencing along the entire park and a gate to keep after-hours trespassers away.

Some felt like the park is a broken promise, as SPS initially talked about building a large dog park to replace the unofficial one, but instead created this smaller venue while also renovating High Bridge Dog Park near Browne’s Addition, recently acquired by the city from Spokanimal.

Jordan acknowledged that the arrangement might not be preferable for everyone, while the Parks Department laid out their plan for turning High Bridge from a rough, neglected park, to the city’s premiere spot for dog owners.

“We’ve already gotten positive feedback on Parks taking over the last couple months,” Nick Hamad with Spokane Parks said. “Our crews are rovering through here daily and cleaning up… I’m not here to say that [dirtiness] is never going to happen, I’m saying our crews are already doing a better job of maintaining it than [Spokanimal].”