Dogs get a reprieve
MAUREEN DOLAN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 3 months AGO
COEUR d'ALENE - Pooches have a little more time to run free at Central Bark, the 1.8-acre dog park near the intersection of Atlas and Nez Perce roads in Coeur d'Alene.
The fate of the dog park, part of a 10-acre property owned by the Coeur d'Alene School District, has been uncertain for nearly a year, since trustees first decided to seek bids for the land.
In August, the board voted unanimously to sell the property to Lutheran Academy of the Master for $480,000, with an anticipated closing date of Sept. 30.
At Monday's school board meeting, Wendell Wardell, the district's chief operating officer, told trustees the deal had fallen through.
"It seemed to be a concern as to how they would locate their building, a concern internally," Wardell said.
He told trustees that a "for sale" sign was going back up on the land, referred to by the district as the "Northshire" property.
The land was placed on the market by the trustees last year so they could raise capital to purchase the district's new central office building at the intersection of Northwest Boulevard and Ironwood Drive. The district relocated to that building earlier this year, under a lease-purchase agreement.
That sale will still be finalized, Wardell told The Press. The district will likely use revenue from its School Plus child care program to complete the transaction.
The dog park, open at the Atlas Road location since 2010, was developed through a partnership with the Kootenai County Dog Park Association, the city of Coeur d'Alene and the school district. The dog park association raised the funds to build the park, and the city has maintained it under a no-cost lease agreement with the school district.
The dog park was developed with the understanding that it was temporary, that the school district might need the property at any time.
Bob MacDonald, chair of the Kootenai County Dog Park Association, reacted positively to the news that the pending sale was off the table.
He said the association never knew what the church's intentions were for the dog park on the property, but with the sale postponed, dogs will be able to romp off-leash there for a while longer.
The school district has indicated the dog park can stay there until new owners take control of the property. In the meantime, the association is exploring other options in the area, MacDonald said.
"We're lucky dogs. We got a reprieve," he said.
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