City of Marion breaks ground on new dog park

The city of Marion broke ground Tuesday morning for a new dog park after over five years of setbacks and planning. 

The park will be named Wiggly Field and will be located on Ballard Field in east central 

Marion. 

Local businessman and Rotarian Dwight Ott said he has been adamant for years about rejuvenating Ballard Park. 

“It is one small thing we can do to try and make life fun here in Marion,” Ott said. “If one of us does one thing and someone else has another idea, it will make Marion a great place to live.” 

The original plans were to rejuvenate the entire 20-acre Ballard field. But with unprecedented hurdles and COVID-19 hitting, plans were settled for just the three-acre dog park. 

President of the Parks and Recreation Board Kyle Beal said, “It’s nice to see it actually come to reality, it was kind of a dream that Dwight had. There were times I did not think it was going to happen. “ 

Ott said he got inspired while visiting a Utah dog park in 2018. He saw how it brought the community together and wanted to see Marion residents come together in the same way. 

“I think this will be a really neat project that will bring people together,” Ott said. “Folks will get to know each other in the community that they didn’t know before.” 

This is the second large investment in local dogs this year, following the improvements at Marion Animal Care and Control back in January. 

“I just want more reasons for people to live here,” Ott said. “Not just drive to town, go to work, drive out of town. We want them to live here, and we want to give them reasons. 

Local resident Scott Overman has wanted Ballard Park to be developed for many years, and what he referred to as “the bark park” Is really good for the community. 

“Anybody moving into a new community they look for the amenities,” Overman said. “They look for the walking trails, they look for the parks, they look for the schools, and this is one piece of a big puzzle.” 

Wiggly Field is a roughly $550,000 investment made possible by grants from the Marion Rotary Club, Community Foundation and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. They are still looking for approximately $30,000 from additional sponsors. 

Wiggly Field is currently set to open in early August.