TRIMBELLE — The Pierce County Dog Park is preparing for its Grand Opening from 5-7 p.m. Oct. 2. The park is located at the Trimbelle Recreation Area at N5154 County Road O.

On Oct. 2, the first 50 pet owners will receive goodie bags for their dogs, and there will be pup cups as well as a raffle. For the Grand Opening specifically, park representatives are asking that attending pet owners have some experience going to dog parks previously to calm the potential chaos of having many dogs in one place at the same time.

The park has been pending since 2018, when a committee was established as part of the Design Ellsworth initiative. The E3 Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving quality of life by generating, managing, and allocating resources to meet the current and future needs of the community, took on the dog park as one of its first projects, receiving a grant from Purina for $15,000 to help make it happen.

Plans eventually changed to take the park to a county level. Purina allowed the committee to keep the grant funding and find another location, which they did in Trimbelle.

“After working with the committee, they decided that down at the Trimbelle recreational area would be the best option. A lot of it because it’s not a very utilized park,” E3 President Kayleen Jakes said. “It’s such a hidden gem. They want more people to utilize it because they have to maintain it anyway.”

The county parks and recreation team helped swiftly move the project along, being unanimously approved at the county level.

“[It’s] out in the country where we’re not going to be disturbing anybody if people bring out their dogs and they’re playful and barking,” Jakes said.

Jakes said if the park is a massive hit, they could explore options of another park or a new location.

“Human interaction also is very important,” Jakes said. “That community feel where they’re able to get out and have a common ground talking about their pets.”

A dog park was one of the top community requests during the Design Ellsworth process. People traveled to Hastings, River Falls and Red Wing to get to a dog park previously.

“Even something as simple as, if they go to another town, they’re going to shop in that other town. If we can keep it local to Ellsworth, they’re going to stay local to Ellsworth,” Jakes said. “It just helps everything in the long run for our whole community.”