KINGMAN — A new dog park has been established next to the Powerhouse Visitors Center. This project has been discussed for a long time, according to Josh Noble, the Tourism Office Services Manager.
“We’ve known for a while that we really could use a dog park in the vicinity of the visitor center and really for downtown residence as well. It really came to a head when we added parking on the south side of the building and more RVs started coming in. When we added the chargers with Teslas, a lot of people that drive Teslas and electric vehicles travel with their animals.”
The triangle shaped, tree shaded, six thousand square foot enclosure with a double gate has all the things you’d expect to find in a dog park plus there is a down sized replica of the drive through Route 66 sign that is an extremely popular photo-opt for visitors.
“This has been a team effort. I’ve got members of my team that have worked on it. The Parks Department, the late Jerry Sipe, who passed away earlier this year, and he really helped us get to where we are today. And I really, really appreciate the thoughts and knowledge in pulling this together. We get a lot of travelers with dogs. This is now, even more, going to be pet friendly for visitors.”
The park’s dedication was very well attended and went off without a hitch. Kingman Mayor Ken Watkins seem delighted with this new addition to the city.
“As tourists, we like to stop at all the nice places in the town we visit. In Kingman, we have Route 66, among other things, and a lot of people want to come to Route 66, not just nationally, but internationally around the world, Route 66 is so popular. And this just makes it more convenient for people and their pets when they stop to visit Kingman. And we want to come across as a friendly town, and welcoming to all our visitors that come to Kingman.”
Several locals and their dogs, as well as, a few visitors, were on hand to try out the new addition to the Old Powerhouse Visitors Center. The Kingman Area Animal Shelter brought along several adoptable dogs, and a couple of local vendors helped to give the dedication a near party atmosphere. There was also a music soundtrack playing with popular songs that referenced dogs.
