Many families spent time at Pretzel Park over the weekend to enjoy the unusually pleasant weather—with highs in the 60s—stepping away from their heated homes while enjoying games of tag and other fun in the sun activities.
Pretzel Park, also known as Manayunk’s Dog Park, was founded in 1920 but not renovated or maintained until 1998 when the Manayunk Neighborhood Council began revitalizing the site once recognized for its demolished houses. The Philadelphia Department of Recreation currently cares for the park and the Fairmont Park Comm. Donates mulch and wood chips.
Dan Kent, a resident of the Manayunk area, has been walking his dog Zoe—a mix of a St. Bernard and Bernese Mountain Dog—everyday for the past year.
“There’s been a good crowd of dogs here,” Kent said. “But it’s been a ghost town recently.”
Local resident Laura Arblaster brings her dog Sterling often to the park. In 2005, Laura and a group of about 15 dog-lovers started having drinks together by the dog park and would host happy hours and concerts to raise funds to help maintain it. They managed to raise nearly $5,000 over a few years.
“It’s a neat story,” Arblaster said. “It really brought the community together.”
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