Idaho/Montana Chapter Members, Students Design Dog Park
Ten weeks of budgeting, site design, and drafting culminate in a presentation at city hall.

This spring, Jon Mueller, ASLA, and Keith Dixon, ASLA, worked extensively with a class of fourth- and fifth-grade students at Dalton Elementary School to design a dog park for the city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The members met weekly and taught the advanced learning students over two and a half months. The project culminated in final design presentations to the Coeur d’Alene school board as well as the city council.

Jon Mueller, ASLA, talks with the class about the dog park project.

The dog park project served many educational goals, including introducing students to the landscape architecture profession. Students also worked on their math skills with budgeting and mapping, research skills (including on-site research), science and thinking skills with planning, and communication skills with writing, drawing, and public speaking. The students worked both in small groups and as a whole throughout the dog park project. Some of their assignments included designing signage, defining problems and program elements, and drafting site plans using online 3-D mapping tools.

Student-created master plans for the Coeur d'Alene Dog Park.

Why a dog park? “We felt that kids have a natural affinity for dogs and that a park project would be a great means by which we could introduce kids to landscape architecture,” said Mueller, noting that he had worked on a similar project in which an entire elementary school worked on creating a new playground for the school. “The biggest challenge was not being able to give enough to the kids,” Mueller continued. “They were really focused and were like little sponges. They just absorbed everything we laid out for them and wanted more. They really liked the connection with nature.”

A student in the project designed both a welcome sign and a large fountain for dogs.