The popular Travis Dolphin Dog Park, perched along the Flathead River on the west side of Polson, is headed for a substantial pawlift, but needs funds to launch the project next spring.

Having received a go-ahead from the City of Polson in September, the newly formed nonprofit called the Woofpack is seeking to raise around $36,000 for phase 1 and $18,400 for phase 2.

The park, named for a water department employee who died at an early age, was opened in 2007 as an Eagle Scout project by Jonathan Crosby. Scouts, dog lovers and local businesses continued to pitch in with projects that added fencing, a dock, signage, a trail system, a metal ramp leading into the Flathead River, a water fountain and three bench seats.

One ongoing issue at the park, which was once a landfill, is the glass that works its way to the surface and can cut canine paws. Another is the ongoing shoreline erosion, which makes accessing the dock increasingly steep, and exposes buried glass and debris, which then lodge on the bank or wash into the river.

Work begins next spring on the first phase that entails replacing torn weed mat and replenishing gravel on the 2.5-acre park’s paths and terracing the slope that leads to the dock.

Phase 2 would stabilize the shoreline by installing 50 feet of riprap approximately four-feet high downstream and upstream from the dock. In addition, eight pilings would be added.

According to Woofpack president Eve Dixon, a canine enthusiast who has helped spearhead the project, an anonymous donor is matching dollar for dollar donations up to $10,000. The group has also worked with Delaney’s Landscape Center to offer engraved memorial steppingstones, which will be installed during Phase 1 (or may be kept by the purchaser). Donations can be made and stones ordered online at polsonwoofpack.org.

According to Dixon, while the city has approved the project, it has no money to invest. As the website notes, park improvements have historically been “a community-driven endeavor,” and the park “needs a lot of love.”

In addition to financial contributions, Dixon hopes volunteers will rally next spring to man wheelbarrows while the crew from Delaney’s delivers loads of gravel, directs its placement, and compacts it into place.

For more information, call 406-253-6445 or email [email protected].