Monday night saw a group of about 100 people and their furry friends gather for the official lighting of the Destin Dog Park. The process of obtaining the lights took about two years to complete and a collaboration of efforts from the Destin community and the City.
“After we opened the park in January of 2012, the next question that was popping up was when we were going to have lights so that people could come with their dogs after work,” said The Friends of the Destin Dog Park group organizer, Nancy Weidenhamer. “The Friends of the Destin Dog Park started a group to fundraise for the lights, then we went before the City Council with $15,000 and they matched it. It was a community effort with the City of Destin, we partnered together and we got it done.”
Notable donors to the project included Jeff Lynn of Gulf Coast Electric and Destin business owner David Barton.
“We had a lot of small contributors also,” said Weidenhamer, “and I can’t think the city staff enough for all their hard work.”
The lights will be on from dusk until 10 p.m. nightly and relight at 6 a.m. in the morning.
“It means so much that I just can’t put into words what it means to me to have lights in the park,” said Weidenhamer. “It’s not only from the citizens but also for the tourists as well.”
For more photos of the event CLICK HERE