A one-acre, leash-free dog park behind the old reservoir off Pearl Road in Parma Heights opened today, giving dog owners from Parma and Parma Heights their first shared off-leash space after more than a decade of planning. Reservoir Paw Park's ribbon-cutting ceremony was set for 5 p.m., capping a project that grew out of a 14-year-old petition drive and came together through matching county grants and a formal agreement between the two cities.
According to News 5 Cleveland, Parma Mayor Timothy DeGeeter and Parma Heights Mayor Marie Gallo both attended the ribbon-cutting, with DeGeeter thanking Cuyahoga County leaders for the two grants that made the project possible and thanking Gallo and both city councils for their collaboration. Gallo said the partnership with Parma demonstrates what communities can accomplish by working together, adding that the new park serves residents from the surrounding area.
Two County Grants and a Six-Figure Build
The project leaned on two identical $50,000 Cuyahoga County Community Development Supplemental Grants, one awarded to Parma and one to Parma Heights, pooling $100,000 in public money, as detailed by Citizen Portal. Local officials in Parma Heights have put the total setup and construction cost between $120,000 and $175,000, covering security cameras, lighting, a dedicated water line, fencing and parking upgrades, with any gap beyond the grant money split evenly between the two cities.
That funding only materialized after years of grassroots pressure from the Parma Area Dog Park Association, a nonprofit founded in 2012 by residents pushing for a local off-leash space. Association president Katie Kistler told the outlet that volunteers started 14 years ago with a petition that collected around 800 signatures, and that they kept returning to city council because they believed the park would be a genuine community amenity.
A Ten-Year Deal With Cleveland Water Land
Making the park legal required more than fundraising. In September 2025, Parma City Council passed emergency legislation authorizing a 10-year memorandum of understanding with Parma Heights, according to the City of Parma, allowing the park to sit on land under the City of Cleveland Division of Water without charging residents a user fee. Under the deal, Parma Heights handles the lawn maintenance and trash collection while Parma manages routine park cleanup, and the two cities split whatever maintenance costs remain.
The finished park covers roughly one acre split into two fenced sections, three-quarters of an acre for large dogs and a quarter-acre for small dogs, per Parma Heights recreation commission minutes. Reservoir Paw Park also includes benches, newly planted trees and landscaping, dog waste stations, and a water fountain built for both people and pets.
Safety Rules, and a City With a Complicated Dog Law
Dogs previously classified as vicious or dangerous are barred from the off-leash area, with enforcement falling to the Parma Heights Police Department and Animal Control, according to the City of Parma's agreement records. That rule sits alongside a longer local history: Parma has banned pit bull ownership under Ordinance 618.09 since the late 1980s, a ban voters chose to uphold in a May 2019 referendum, as reported by the Parma Observer.
Neighbors Show Up for Opening Day
Parma resident Kathye Pace said the park brings people together and helps them get to know different kinds of dogs, while Parma Heights resident Jim Dew said he liked that the site was split into two separate parks and that people were already enjoying it on opening day, per the same News 5 account. The Parma Area Dog Park Association plans to keep fundraising for shade structures and additional toys, and it will host a Yappy Hour fundraiser on August 29 at 6 p.m. at Parma Tap House, with proceeds going toward future park upgrades.
A Depression-Era Reservoir Gets New Company
The park sits inside Reservoir Park, home to the roughly 23-million-gallon Parma Reservoir, a Gothic-style concrete water basin built between 1933 and 1937 by the Works Progress Administration, according to Case Western Reserve University. The opening also lands amid a broader run of pet investment in the suburbs, following the May 2026 opening of Chasing Trails, an indoor canine enrichment center in Parma, as reported by WKYC. It's also the latest example of the two cities pooling resources, following a joint crisis-response program the neighboring suburbs launched for 911 calls.
