MOSES LAKE — It might have been drizzling, but the dogs didn’t care. They ran and barked and otherwise enjoyed the new park designed for them. The new Moses Lake Dog Park was dedicated Saturday.

The developed part of the park is 1 acre, at least for now, said Rick Serra of the Friends of the Moses Lake Dog Park and one of the participants behind the project. “They (Moses Lake city officials) gave us 10 acres,” and the long-term plan is to develop the entire site, Serra said.

The fenced acre that’s been developed was done with donations and volunteer labor, he said. One side is reserved for small dogs, the other for big dogs, both sides with grass and trees. Part was left in sagebrush and dirt. And on the big-dog side there’s even a fire hydrant.

Dog owners are not only allowed but encouraged to take their dogs off the leash and let them run around. “They’ll be able to play and just be dogs,” Serra said.

The drizzly weather might have kept down the crowd, but the dogs and kids who ran through the new park didn’t seem to mind. “Dogs and kids. You can’t get any better than that,” said Linda Edwards, who brought her dog Lily. Edwards and Lily come to the dog park every day they can, she said.

They’re not alone. Spencer Grigg, director of Moses Lake Parks and Recreation, said the park has been so busy the last couple weeks the crews have been having trouble keeping up the garbage detail.

“This group has been amazing. One of the most amazing as far as their spirit of volunteering,” Grigg said.

Construction started in August 2015 and was finished just before Thanksgiving, Serra said. The project started with a group of people “who decided we just wanted a dog park.” City officials said the city couldn’t build it, Serra said, but they agreed to provide the land if the volunteers, who started Friends of the Moses Lake Dog Park, raised the money.

The group raised $8,000 through fundraisers and donation jars at local events, and received a $20,000 grant from the Grant County Humane Society. There were donations of materials and labor, including $2,500 in sod from Lowe’s building supply and a volunteer crew to lay it. “A lot of support from a lot of people,” Serra said.

Some are recognized on a plaque on the big dog side of the park, for people and companies that made substantial donations of money or materials. In addition to Serra and his family, Lowes and the GCHS, they include Jack and Patti Roberts, Desert Winds, Inc., Signs Now, Central Washington Concrete, Moses Lake Job Corps and Jay and Lois Kincaid.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com