Madison City Parks Plans for Quann Park 2004

Madison City Parks will install two picnic-table/kiosks at Quann. The first will be just north of the Wingra Creek pedestrian bridge on the west (creek) side of the paved path and the second will be at the tennis court parking lot entrance. These kiosks/tables are similar to the ones at Warner, Sycamore and Token Creek parks. Each kiosk consists of a roofed picnic table with a vertical display board. One side will be for official city use and the other for general usage. The kiosks will also have money collection boxes for dog park permit payments.

The fencing near the tennis court entrance will be improved. A better pedestrian and dog entrance is being added just west (left) of the vehicle gate. This will be a double gate system similar to the Prairie Moraine park entrances: two gates separated by a small, enclosed area. These help prevent dogs from "escaping" as people enter or exit. They are already laying Turf Stone, open weave concrete forms filled with gravel for drainage, up to and through this gate. The two existing pedestrian gates will remain.

No additional fencing is scheduled for installation this year. The City Parks Department requests OUR INPUT on what to fence next. Parks suggests fencing along Expo Drive first, to separate the off-leash area from the road for safety.. There is no current plan to establish a separate small dog/puppy fenced area. Madison City Parks wants OUR INPUT on whether, where and how big such an area should be. Please submit your ideas via the advocacy group!

Any new fencing will depend on the availability of funds from dog park permit fees. 100% of dog park permit fees go into the dog park fund! Conversely, none of the money from dog licenses goes back to dog parks. So encourage everyone to buy a permit! (It's also required by law.......)

The official off-leash area at Quann Park is the area north of the chain link fence that runs east from the paved path, and skirts the tennis court parking lot to Expo Drive. (That is, essentially the area occupied by the Alliant Center's overflow parking area). The parks department considers both sides of the path part of the off-leash park area. For now, the parks department does not plan enforcement of leash laws on the paved path itself, but keeping this privilege will depend on there being no complaints! So if you see any problems between dogs and pedestrians or bicyclists, PLEASE talk to the dog owners involved and STRONGLY encourage them to either keep their dogs well away from the paved path or to leash their dog(s).

The Parks Department is currently planning on establishing and using a soccer field next to the community gardens THIS summer. The advocacy group still plans to fight the appropriation of dog park space for the establishment of this new soccer field.
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There are no plans to move or install a water fountain within the current official off-leash area. There are two reasons for this. First – DNR regulations prohibit laying water lines in the landfill area. Second - the UW Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital has advised the city NOT to put water fountains at the dog parks because there is strong medical evidence that sharing of water at dog parks is spreading disease among the dogs. So bring your own water and your own water bowls, and don't leave bowls out for general usage.