ShareWritten by Heather Tenney, Vice President of Member Services, Coastal Carolinas Association of REALTORS®
The City of Georgetown, SC is heavily visited as a stopping point between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, and provides a much needed rest stop for travelers to stretch their legs and to give canines a break to exert some energy.
An ideal place to stop is the East Bay Park of Georgetown, which is a heavily utilized 5-acre outdoor community space nestled against the Winyah Bay, an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. The Park had a walking path, playground, baseball fields and boat ramp, but no welcoming space for dog owners and their pooches.
One of our REALTOR® members, Carol Jayroe, who is also on the Georgetown City Council member, mentioned to us that the City was interested in adding a dedicated space for dogs and would love to have our assistance in making this dream a reality. The city had an 1/2 acre of underutilized green lawn available in East Bay Park for the project. So the project began.
Once the green space was approved by city Council to proceed with conversion into a dog park, the Coastal Carolinas Association of REALTORS® (CCAR) used NAR’s Placemaking grant to landscape two areas of the dog park, one for smaller dogs and another fenced in area for larger dogs. Once the fence was in place, a group of CCAR REALTORS® and affiliate volunteers, as well as volunteers from the local steel mill, gathered on a cold January day to help plant trees and bushes alongside the fence, to add welcoming curb appeal. The landscaping added much needed curb appeal for the dog park.
In February 2020, we celebrated the ribbon cutting of the first official dog park in the city of Georgetown, South Carolina. In attendance, was the mayor of Georgetown, who conducted the ceremony, council members, Saint Francis Animal Center, Liberty Steel Mill and REALTORS®.
Of course, our star guests arrived as well and enjoyed running and playing as well as taking advantage of the water fountains. Their owners also enjoyed the space as well.
We look forward to many years of enjoying the outdoors with our canine companions in this park and appreciate the opportunity to make this park into a reality.
