Join Mayor Indya Kincannon, UT President and PetSafe founder Randy Boyd, other City officials and South Knoxville community members for a dog park groundbreaking ceremony at 4 p.m. Monday, March 21, 2022 at Sam Duff Memorial Park. 

The Boyd Foundation – established in 2018 by philanthropists Randy and Jenny Boyd to support animal welfare and youth education – is awarding $500,000 in grants to help build 10 new dog parks in Knox County. Five of them will be within the city limits of Knoxville, and the first City dog park will be built at Sam Duff Memorial Park, 4060 Chapman Highway. 
 
The Boyd Foundation is funding the grants through its Knox Neighborhood Dog Parks (KNDP) program. Neighborhood groups, supported by the City, applied for the funding and engaged more than 1,000 times with the Foundation in making their pitches for new community dog parks in their neighborhoods. 
 
In the end, the Boyd Foundation selected dog park projects proposed by residents in the Fountain City, Fourth & Gill, Holston / Chilhowee, South Knoxville and Oakwood / Lincoln Park neighborhoods. 
 
With the addition of the 10 new dog parks countywide, Knox County will be No. 1 in the number of dog parks per capita in the United States, according to the Boyd Foundation. 
 
In addition to breaking ground for the new dog park, Mayor Kincannon will tout new accessibility upgrades underway at Sam Duff Memorial Park. The initial Americans with Disabilities Act improvements include a new sidewalk from Chapman Highway to the park restroom building and new accessible parking at the restroom building. Renovation work at the restroom building is continuing, and it will be ADA accessible when the project is complete. 
 
The team working on the Sam Duff dog park and ADA improvements includes Shelton General Contractors, East Tennessee Fence Co., W. Scott Williams and Associates, and the Public Building Authority. 
 
The City of Knoxville ensures meaningful access to City programs, services and activities to comply with Civil Rights Title VI and ADA Title II laws and reasonably provides translation, interpretation, modifications, accommodations, alternative formats, auxiliary aids and services.  
 
To request language translation services for this groundbreaking ceremony, contact Diversity and Inclusion Officer Tatia M. Harris at [email protected] or 865-215-2831. For disability accommodations, contact City ADA Coordinator Stephanie Brewer Cook at [email protected] or 865-215-2034 at least 72 hours before the event.