To the best of my knowledge I’m the only dog owner to have used what should be Norfolk’s first downtown dog park in 2010. Kaiser would sure enjoy some playtime, so please come check it out.

Norfolk Scope Arena

Just to be clear, I’m talking about the roughly seven-acre paved area known as Scope Plaza. Who says a park has to be green? It’s a mammoth piece of land that sits idle 99.9% of the time, so we’ve reclaimed it as our own. It’s not an official dog park–yet–and a step shy of ideal, I’ll admit. But presently it’s the best dog park downtown’s got, and more users would make it better.

The plaza has a different feel than what you might be used to at PETA. You might be thinking,

1. “Isn’t it paved?” Yep. I’ll sure miss those muddy towels in my backseat.

2. “Where will my dog pee?” Wherever he likes. And wastewater from the plaza gets treated in the sewer system, unlike runoff in a field.

3. “It feels really close to traffic.” I’m totally with you, and I used a lot of caution the first few days. Just keep in mind how big this enclosed plaza is–your dog can do a lot of running and come nowhere near an exit. There’s also a “park within a park”–you might know it as the fountain. In the winter, it’s more of a 100×160-foot yard with its own three-foot high retaining wall. Ideal for a game of fetch. In the summer, boom, this dog park has a water feature.

So how does Norfolk go about establishing official dog parks, you ask? The seven criteria are on the city’s website. This park, as with all downtown living, does carry its challenges–but none seem to be deal-breakers. Together, we can petition to turn this plaza into a park.

So much space, so little utility.

If it’s been a while since your last Admirals game, you might’ve forgotten how massive the plaza is. Subtracting the size of the two venues, the plaza itself is about the size of 15 football fields including end zones. True, it borders some major roads, though for comparison a sidewalk is the only thing between Norfolk’s (official) Hague Dog Park and the traffic of Brambleton Avenue. This plaza, on the other hand, is elevated above the sidewalks around it, and its perimeter is almost entirely confined with a 3-foot raised planter wall. There are a grand total of 14 exits by which a dog could escape, most of them quite narrow and none of which face Brambleton. (Personal safety note: I always use the same staircase, and my dog seems oblivious to the others. If you get down on all fours, you can see the wall appears pretty seamless.)

Avoidance of highly populated or other high-use areas.

The plaza is the antithesis of “high-use” except for when an event is running. Just like other mixed-use sites, it’s a matter of establishing the rules to govern interactions between different kinds of users. Something like, “During event times, dogs must be leashed” should cover it. A dog owner’s best bet would be to check sevenvenues.com before leaving home.

Proximity to residential areas to be convenient for pet owners.

Convenient, I’ll say. Scores nearer than the PETA and Hague Dog Parks, currently the closest for Downtowners.

Neighborhood acceptance to include a majority vote of approval at a civic league meeting.

Ghent Dog Park. Photo by Amy Wheeler. Click image to view this photo series.

These are the guys who approved the FRED shuttle (which was awesome). I don’t think this is terribly out-of-the-box.

Geographic equity.

I’m not clear what this means. Help me out, city people!

Appropriate parking must be available and should not create issues within the neighborhood for resident parking.

I’m pretty sure all Norfolk dog owners could park at the same time. This could be the city’s first profitable dog park.

A thorough site visit to assess the viability of the area identified for the dog park.

We’ll be there every morning and afternoon.

I leave you with the thought that names are often what give a place substance. We ignore Scope Plaza because its name tells us that the plaza itself is not the main event; it’s not a park so much as a waiting area. To get the momentum moving, perhaps what we need is a great name. I’m all ears.

For a little inspiration, check out Amy Wheeler’s photo series from Ghent Dog Park.