The ribbon was cut at the official grand opening of the Susan Dale Badgett Memorial Paws Dog Park Friday, June 9. The dog park is located within Chickasha’s Centennial Park at 702 7th St, Chickasha, OK.

Though the park has been operational since last July, the official grand opening ceremony did not happen until now. The dog park was built to honor Susan Badgett, an avid dog lover. After her passing in 2019 due to liver cancer, her family donated over $100,000 to Chickasha to build the dog park.

Gail Ulrich, sister of Badgett, cut the ribbon in the official opening ceremony. The ceremony included the ribbon cutting, a “cutest dog contest” with Mayor Chris Mosely as the contest judge, and food provided for both humans and canines with the Doggin’ It Food Truck.

“She didn’t have any children, so I was trying to find some kind of way to honor her,” Ulrich said. “We decided that a dog park would be the best way to go.”

“I’m very excited to have the Badgett family present for the opening of the Susan Dale Badgett Memorial Paws Dog Park,” said Shae Mortimer, marketing and civic engagement manager of the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce. “It’s exciting to have this for the community, and it’s something that people have wanted for a long time here.”

Mortimer notes that the dog park is in a central location, easily accessible to the community of Chickasha. Because the dog park is located within Centennial Park, dogs can roam in the dog park and children can play on the other side of the park.

The dog park features wide open spaces for dogs to roam, and provides segregation between large and small dogs, to allow for safe play. There is equipment to accommodate large dogs, with equipment for small dogs to be added in the future. There are also benches for humans to sit on, and the benches have the names of Badgett’s dogs on them to further honor Badgett.

“The city has helped so much with this, and it’s amazing how much work they put into the park,” Ulrich said. “I look forward to them really taking care of it.” The park will be maintained and have its upgrades provided by the City of Chickasha.

Mayor Mosely says the dog park is a “big deal” for the community of Chickasha, especially those of the younger generation.

“It [the dog park] is for anybody that has an animal. Please clean up the waste after your animal, and enjoy the time here.” Mayor Mosley said.

Paul Tointigh is a fourth-year Communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.