SALEM TOWNSHIP -- A new dog park is coming to the Berwick area, and it has been years in the making.
"There's no dedicated area, fenced in safe area for dogs to socialize," said Michael Gray.
Gray was born and raised in Berwick but moved to Chicago for a few years after college. Now he's back home with his wife and 6-year-old dog, Gus. He owns the North American branch of a dog food company in Berwick and for the last two and a half years, he has had a new project on his hands. He is now the founder and heads the committee for the Berwick Community Dog Park.
The park is nearly two acres large, surrounded by a 6-foot chain link fence so the dogs will not be able to jump over or crawl under it.
"I think it's a place for us to go and for her to be with other dogs. We only have one dog at home, so just to have a couple friends," said Allie Palerma of Berwick.
The dog park has faced quite a few obstacles since planning began about two years ago, including where the location would be. The original spot was supposed to be here at Ber Vaughn Park in Briar Creek, but zoning and insurance issues changed that.
"We were trying to keep the park in town in the town limits as much as possible to make it easily accessible for everybody from young people to senior citizens," Gray said.
The dog park is just outside of Berwick in Salem Township, right off of Route 11. The fence is being completed this week before the weather changes for the winter.
"It's been a great community. Now that the fence is up, people are really starting to donate and just get us on Facebook, and like our page and comment. You just hear people talking about it around town which is really cool," Gray said.
The park committee will put finishing touches on the park in the spring, adding benches and garbage cans. It will be set to open to the public then.