Beginning Saturday, May 6, North Branford's first town dog park will open its gates.

It's been a dream of several years for the members of North Branford Unleashed! a grassroots citizens group led by resident Eric Hodgson. About four years ago, Hodgson and other interested members of the community brought a proposal from North Branford Unleashed! to the Town Council, seeking to collaborate on creating the park. The council agreed to set aside at least an acre of town land if NB Unleashed! could raise an initial $10,000 to help provide items needed for the park. Hodgson said it's been a remarkable to effort to produce a new public facility supported by donations from individuals, businesses and other sponsors from the community.

The initial $10,000 was raised by the group and grew to a total of $12,000 in the bank by 2016. With the money in place to purchase the needed fencing and help add benches, signage, a dog waste station and trash receptacles, the town designated open space beside the Augur Farm pole barn at 298 Forest Road, at the edge of the town's Swajchuk recreational land, as the new dog park's site.

Working with North Branford Parks and Recreation, plans for the park were completed. With the help of North Branford Public Works, the fencing was installed. Now, with contributions including benches (one of which has been donated by the Women's Club of Northford) and an informational kiosk under construction as a local Eagle Scout project, the park is ready to accommodate residents and their pups, said Hodgson.

"The official opening is going to be Saturday, May 6. It's going to be a soft opening. The park will be open and operable," said Hodgson.

A future celebration event, possibly tied into a kicking off a phase-two fundraising effort to further enhance park offerings, may take place on a date to be announced. Supporters can keep up with the latest plans on Facebook here

The park's periphery fencing and two entrance gates were installed in the fall of 2016, but the decision was made to wait until spring 2017 to open the park for use, said Hodgson.

"Things got pushed out over the winter, and it was a pretty hard winter, so we wanted to make sure when we opened it everything had been done and done the right way," he said.

Ample parking is available at the site. The park has two separate, double gated entrances for dogs and their owners with about three-quarters of an acre of open space for recreational area inside the fencing.

"It's for any size dog the owner feels is appropriate, and that's where we've started," said Hodgson.

Owners will be responsible for their pets. As a town park, the North Branford Dog Park will open from dawn to dusk. As with all other town playgrounds, it is to be used at the discretion and risk of those who enter. While the town will provide basic maintenance of the property. Dog owners are expected to pick up after their pets and help keep the park neat and clean.

After so many years in the planning, Hodgson said he's excited to see the gates officially swing open at the North Branford Dog Park on May 6.

"I'm very excited. It's been a long but worthwhile effort," he said.