Designer to unleash talents on dog park
LOS ANGELES — Interior designer Nate Berkus has been adding fantasy to homes for 16 years, inspiring people with just the right creative touch. But he’s been a dog-lover even longer, and he’s turning his design expertise to a half-milliondollar fantasy dog park.
Berkus, 41, has joined the creative team for the 2014 Beneful Dream Dog Park Contest. Contestants have to answer one question: “If you had $500,000 to create a Dream Dog Park where you and your best buddy can play together, what would you do?”
In Lancaster, Pa., the answer included a doggy amusement park with a tennis-ball tree and a 40-foot roller-coaster bridge. The park there — the third contest winner — opens Aug. 6.
The first park was built in Johns Creek, Ga., with a family destination theme and includes a bone-shaped bridge, two splash pads, tunnels, rubberized mulch paths and shade trees. The second park, in Alabaster, Ala., has synthetic turf, agility rings, a walking trail, a fetch football field, fire-hydrant goalposts and a mulch adventure path with tunnels, said Brent Gleckler, brand director for Beneful dog food.
“There is nothing I love more than being with my dog,” Berkus said of sidekick Tucker, a black mutt. Together, they visit a dog park nearly every night.
The parks in Alabaster and Johns Creek have been tourist magnets. In Georgia, the city had to make 72 new parking spaces next to the park to accommodate visitors.
In Alabama, people take good care of the park, but the city does a walkthrough once a day, sprays it down twice a week and uses a biodegradable chemical once a month, city parks director Tim Hamm said.
The dog park is part of the city’s flagship Veterans Park, with a ball-field complex, 2.5mile walking trail, eight pavilions with picnic tables, two playgrounds, a skateboard park and veterans memorial, Hamm said.
Every day, they get calls from tourists asking about hours and directions.
“The more people that come to our city, the more people will stop, eat and buy gas. We are all for that. Out-of-town users are great,” Hamm said. “Anybody who wants to come, we more than welcome them in town.”
Beneful has some requirements — large dogs must be separated from small dogs; the park has to be fenced for offleash play; and it has to be a pub- lic or non-profit park, open to the public at no charge.
“A park is a place for a community to come together. These parks are specifically designed for pet owners and their dogs, but everyone is welcome,” Berkus said. “We’re really looking at it from the dogs’ perspective. We will use smart materials that will last a long time, and make sure we factor in pet behaviors and create not only beautiful fun places but intelligently laid out places as well.”
Hamm said except for a few minor fights, there has been no trouble at the park. If there is a fight on your watch, the park has that covered, too: A sign tells visitors “How to Break Up a Dog Fight.”
Berkus, who has an upcoming NBC show called “American Dream Builders,” is teaming up with contractor Jason Cameron, host of the DIY Network’s “Man Caves,” and Arden Moore, founder of fourlegged life.com, for the latest contest.