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Mount Airy has a new gathering place for a special group of town residents to socialize.

The Mount Airy Dog Park is open for canines and their owners. Although the park has unofficially been open for about a week, a grand opening is scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday to celebrate the first dog park in the town, a place for both pets and owners to socialize.

The park, which has been in the works for 18 months, is in Watkins Park along Md. Route. 27.

Wednesday's event will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Members of Girl Scout Troop 81670 will distribute doggie bandannas from 5-7 p.m. at the park, and will also be working with the Mount Airy Pet Loft to register dogs and distribute tags for park use on Wednesday and 9 a.m. to noon on April 4.

Although the normal fee for the park will be $20 for non-Mount Airy residents, the 2009 cost to register is $15 because of the short year. Mount Airy residents must register, but have no cost.

"This is because it was built with Mount Airy tax money," said Larry Hushour, a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission who has spearheaded the project.

Residents should bring a water bill to prove residence, and have a county registration tag for their pet.

Original funding estimates for the park projected $11,000 for fencing and signs, but it ended up costing around $12,000, Hushour said.

The town will not be paying for maintenance of the park's lawn thanks to a nearby resident who volunteered to mow the park in exchange for his two dog's 2009 entry fees.

Councilman Gary Nelson, liaison to the commission, said the town jumped at the idea.

Originally, leftover money would have aided Boy Scout Eagle projects, which were planned to provide landscaping for the park, as well as gazebos and pet waste posts.

"Right now the Scout projects are going slower than we had hoped," Hushour said.

Current projects include landscaping the park, which would include trees and a path, and creating pet waste posts, which the scouts hope to do around town in addition to at the dog park. Plans for a scout to build a gazebo have been shelved, so Hushour said the commission was looking at the possibility of building a pergola.

"It's a little bit simpler project, but looks just as fancy as a gazebo," he said of the structure, which looks like an arbor that provides shade, but little rain protection.

Pet owners must sign a waiver when registering their dog, as well as review the rules for the park, which include no aggressive dogs, picking up after their dogs, and not leaving pets unattended.

Hushour said the general reaction he was getting has been positive, and the handful of people who had opposed the park had not been vocal recently. Some residents had voiced concern at the town's September Parks and Recreation Commission meeting saying the park's proximity to Parr's Ridge Elementary School was alarming, in addition to possible parking problems on East Church Street.

Windy Ridge Park, located in the northwest end of town, was suggested as an alternate location.

Bob King, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, said Windy Ridge, which is in the master planning process, would be a long-term process. "It would be amazing to me if we got something done there in the next 10 years," he said in September.

E-mail Angie Cochrun at acochrun@gazette.net.

Special dog tags are required for admittance to the Mount Airy Dog Park. They are available at The Pet Loft in the Mount Airy Shopping Center, 309 E. Ridgeville Ave., Mount Airy.

Free for Mount Airy residents; $15 for non-residents.

For information, e-mail Larry Hushour at cvnpilot@hotmail.com.