This is the first of 10 new dog parks that will make Knox County #1 in the nation for dog parks per capita.
The Boyd Foundation and Knox County leaders broke ground Monday on the first Knox Neighborhood Dog Park at Beverly Park. This marks the beginning stages of the first of 10 new dog parks – five in the county and five in the City of Knoxville.
During Monday’s event, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, Randy Boyd of the Boyd Foundation, and Knox County Parks and Recreation Director Joe Mack, thanked the residents of the Halls community for supporting a new dog park in the neighborhood.
“Our goal with the Knox Neighborhood Dog Parks program is to bring people together and build community through their pets,” said Randy Boyd, of the Boyd Family Foundation. “We’ve been working for more than a decade to make Knox County and Knoxville the Most Pet Friendly Community in America and this new round of neighborhood dog parks will make our goal a reality.”
Once the 10 dog parks are finished, Knox County will rank No. 1 in dog parks per capita in the nation. Knox County is currently ranked 29th in the nation.
“We know that great parks enhance the livability of our county and can entice people to relocate here,” said Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. “Because dogs are a part of many Knox County families, including my own, this is a win-win for people and their pets.”
Through a partnership with Knox County, the City of Knoxville, and The Boyd Family Foundation, Knox Neighborhood Dog Parks asked neighborhoods to nominate their communities at knoxdogparks.com in 2020. More than 300 people nominated their neighborhoods and the dozens who qualified participated in the social engagement period to show why their neighborhood needed a place for their pets to play.
The Boyd Foundation awarded five City of Knoxville and five Knox County neighborhoods $50,000 grants to build new dog parks in the following neighborhoods: Corryton/Gibbs, Fountain City, Fourth and Gill, Halls, Holston Hills, Karns, New Harvest Park, Oakwood/Lincoln, Powell, South Knoxville.
