SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Pieloch Off-Leash Dog Park at Southwest Park a Huge Hit With K9s and Pet Owners

Pieloch dog park was spearheaded by Melbourne Councilman Paul Alfrey

SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Pieloch Dog Park, located at Southwest Park, 400 W. Florida Avenue, has been a huge hit with K9s and their owners since opening this spring. The off-leash dog park features obstacle courses, fenced areas for dogs a mist-spraying fire hydrant, obstacle courses and shaded seating for pet owners.

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Pieloch Dog Park, located at Southwest Park, 400 W. Florida Avenue, has been a huge hit with K9s and their owners since opening this spring.

A ribbon-cutting officially opened the dog park on April 13 and a thank-you reception for volunteers and sponsors was held at the American Muscle Car Museum, located at 3500 Sarno Road in Melbourne.

The off-leash dog park features obstacle courses, fenced areas for dogs, a mist-spraying fire hydrant, obstacle courses and shaded seating for pet owners.

Mark Pieloch, who owns the local American Muscle Car Museum, donated $50,000, and the total value of donations for the park was approximately $125,000.

The Melbourne Pieloch Dog Park was made also possible by generous funding from the Space Coast Association of Realtors, Lowes and many local business partners and volunteers.

The dog park was spearheaded by Melbourne Councilman Paul Alfrey and designed by Alfrey and John Casey, the past chairman of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Pet Posse committee.

Knowing there were no dog parks in the south Melbourne area, Councilman Alfrey decided to commit to raising the funds for the park through private sponsors as opposed to utilizing tax dollars.

As he began reaching out to some local community partners, Pieloch offered to fund the project with a generous donation.

“Mr. and Mrs. Pieloch do an amazing job raising money for many wonderful charities in our local community at the American Muscle Car Museum,” Alfrey said. “We are fortunate to have them in here in Brevard.”

But there were many obstacles to overcome in finding a location that would make a special park and fit the needs of the community.

The first location was Ruffner Park which is just north of Florida Tech.

“Vice Mayor Debbie Thomas took a lot of heat in that meeting from opposing residents,” Alfrey said.

But they found a better location at Southwest Park that has all the amenities that will support the dog park.

“Through the design phase we studied dog parks around the State of Florida to determine what would make our park special,” Casey said.

“From the custom made fire hydrant water features to the agility course we wanted to make it pet and people-friendly.”

Many local businesses assisted to make the park a reality. Hydro Plumbing completed the plumbing within the park and D Bell General Contracting poured the dog-bone shaped concrete pads for the water features.

Also, the Space Coast Association of Realtors provided the colorful Adirondack chairs made from recycled plastic lumber from American Recycled Plastics. Many of the paints used are also recycled from the Brevard County landfill.

“As our community grows, we need to focus on spaces that our children and pets can go,” Alfrey said.

“We can start right here at Pieloch Dog Park. Let’s build something together.”

Volunteer help was needed to install fencing, painting, laying sod and rock, planting trees and building the agility course.

SPACE COAST DAILY TV:  A “before” look at the Pieloch Dog Park, built by volunteers, and located at Southwest Park, 400 W. Florida Avenue. 

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