What was supposed to be a safer, more accessible place for Roscoe Village dogs has become a no-go zone for some owners: pets are coming home with torn and bleeding paw pads after using Hamlin Park’s renovated dog area.
The reopened run now has an asphalt-and-gravel surface, with concrete cutouts filled with loose stone. Owners say the redesign has left gravel scattered across the asphalt, making dogs skid when they stop and exposing paws to injuries, according to Block Club Chicago.
Harry Kroll, who lives about three blocks from the park, said his 3-year-old dog Charlie returned from a visit with torn, bleeding pads on all four feet. Kroll and his wife treated the injuries at home after consulting their veterinarian, and they say Charlie will not be back unless something changes.
Another regular, Jesus Echezarreta, said his recently rescued dog Odie tore a paw pad on one back foot while running near the tennis court fence in June. A veterinarian treated Odie by trimming the damaged pads, cleaning the wounds and monitoring the injury, while a neighbor later reported that another dog suffered deep lacerations even after volunteers swept the area.
The Redesign Was Meant To Keep Gravel Contained
The Chicago Park District said the previous dog area lacked an accessible or durable circulation route. The replacement was intended to improve accessibility, reduce maintenance, manage drainage and keep pea gravel in designated activity areas, while the district said the curb openings and drainage design were intentional, Block Club Chicago reported.
Hamlin is one of the Chicago Park District’s designated Dog Friendly Areas, where dogs can legally run off leash under district and Cook County rules. The district’s DFA commitment agreement assigns the local committee responsibility for tasks including rotating or replacing pea gravel, removing gravel that spills outside the area and washing hard surfaces, which helps explain why volunteers have been sweeping and placing brooms at the site.
Those volunteer measures are being treated as temporary by the Hamlin Park Advisory Council, which has pushed the Park District for a longer-term solution. The council organized a cleanup after hearing complaints and installed three brooms so visitors could sweep loose gravel into designated areas between maintenance visits.
A State-Funded Park Project Now Faces A Local Test
The dog-area work was part of a broader Hamlin Park capital-improvement project. Records from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity list a $1 million Build Illinois Bond Fund grant to the Chicago Park District for capital improvements at Hamlin Park, while the Hamlin Park Advisory Council previously announced the construction and thanked state Rep. Jaime Andrade for helping secure funding.
The grant records do not spell out which individual features received funding, but the public investment raises the stakes for a project that residents say made the dog area nearly unusable. The Park District has scheduled a meeting with its Dog Friendly Area Committee to address the complaints and determine next steps, according to the latest neighborhood report.
Until then, some owners are keeping their dogs out of the run entirely. For neighbors, the question is no longer whether the redesign looks better on paper, but whether dogs can actually run on it without coming home hurt.
