Features

For years, dog lovers in North Castle periodically appealed to town officials to open a park for their pets to exercise and socialize as many other municipalities in Westchester have done.

A survey conducted by the town’s Parks & Recreation Advisory Board in 2022 found that a dog park was one of the top recreation priorities for residents. That was followed by a pitch two years ago by Armonk resident Mollie Meyer and her then-12-year-old daughter Juliet that caught the Town Board’s attention and started the process that culminated in the grand opening of the new dog park at Community Park on Nov. 1, 2025.

Despite the park having been open only in colder weather, it has been a hit so far with dog owners, and turnout is expected to flourish as spring approaches.

“This is all about community,” Mollie Meyer said. “It’s about being able to meet new people, have a place to go with your dog. It’s a lot of open air, exercise. It’s just a positive feeling.”

The dog park’s opening last fall wasn’t an isolated project but one of several significant recreation improvements that North Castle has undertaken that town Supervisor Joseph Rende said will enhance the quality of life for town residents. The long-sought installation of artificial turf at Community Park Fields 1 and 2 that will be able to accommodate multiple sports is expected to be completed in time for the start of the spring season, while coinciding with a major overhaul of the Little League fields at Clove Road in North White Plains.

There is also a multiyear improvement project of the town pool on Greenway Road in Armonk, the next phase of which will now occur immediately after the summer swim season.

Along with improving the Lombardi Park fields on Cox Avenue, enabled by the current conversion of the park’s water supply from wells to public water, improving a small park in Quarry Heights and new playground equipment at four parks a few years ago, the town has focused on recreational facilities to improve the experience for children and families, Rende said.

“Everyone expects well-maintained roads, good schools and the other one is recreation,” Rende said. “What else does a community have to offer? Well, they’ve got great recreation, they’ve got great parks. I think that’s a big part of it. It’s always been a focus of mine.”

Fields

Replacing the grass surface with artificial turf at Fields 1 and 2 at Community Park became a major focus for the town following the 2022 survey, which found that improving the town’s playing fields as the top recreation priority among respondents.

One motivation for town officials to move ahead with the turfing project was to increase the time that fields are able to be used by the various youth and recreational sports leagues in town. After a rainy day, it could take days for it to be used. That will no longer be a problem, and neither should overuse, where portions of grass fields tend to wear out. Depending on the sport, multiple events will be able to be played, added Superintendent of Parks & Recreation Matt Trainor.

Rende said the cost for the work along with the Clove Road fields improvements will be close to $5 million.

“That’s the whole real benefit about it, after inclement weather you’re not waiting for fields to dry, especially where those fields are it becomes very wet,” Rende explained. “You have an extended period of rain it could take a week for those fields to be playable again. Now they’re playable the next day or hour.”

Rende said the project also included work underneath the fields and the installation of padding below the artificial surface. An added feature will be the inclusion of the town’s logo – the red, white and blue eagle – that will be emblazoned between the two fields, similar to many high schools that place its school logo on its main home field.

Both multipurpose surfaces will accommodate baseball, softball, lacrosse and soccer, Trainor said. One of the fields will also be able to host football games, he said.

Trainor expects that unless there is some unforeseen bad weather or other expected delays, work on the fields could be completed by the end of February, in plenty of time for the start of the spring sports season in April.

Meanwhile, Community Park Fields 3 and 4, used for soccer and baseball, will continue to have grass. The plan is to provide that area with irrigation to keep those surfaces in good health and initiate a rotation plan to allow each of those fields to rest when needed, Trainor said.

Once all the field work is done, Trainor expects demand for playing time to increase. He had planned to meet with the leagues and organizations that have use the town’s facilities during the winter before work is completed.

“A lot of this is going to depend on how we work the schedule with some of the leagues, and that’s a conversation I’ll start having with them,” Trainor said.

Also, expected to be completed in time for the start of the Little League season in April are the two fields at Clove Road near the community center. Since the time that Trainor first arrived in North Castle in 2012, this is the most consequential improvements there, with an emphasis on drainage and irrigation.

For former councilman Matt Milim, who left the Town Board at the end of December and served as liaison to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, improving fields and recreational facilities is one of the most critical amenities a town can offer.

“To me, it’s like super important because I think youth sports, it’s a really central part of development for kids,” Milim said. “It teaches them about being a team player, the lessons, fitness. It’s so critical, and the demand in our town, truthfully, is really huge.”

Town Pool

At the close of the 2023 swim season, North Castle officials announced they would have to expend resources to maintain the town pool complex, where like many communities that have a pool, is a popular place to visit in summer.

The town agreed to buy the pool from the non-profit Anita Louise Ehrman Recreation Center in 2017 for $728,000, about a decade after that organization refurbished the pool. Before that, the town made annual lease payments for several years to keep the facility operational when the group ran into financial difficulties.

A few years ago, Trainor reported to the Town that extensive work needed to be done to maintain the pool.

“It’s a popular destination, Rende said. “It’s used by a large population within the town and the fact our camp program utilizes it, so from that standpoint, it’s a tremendous asset to the town.”

Rende said last winter the town began with improvements to the filtration system because there were issues with the circulation of water. Some of that was due to mechanical problems with the system, he said. Thus far, the town has spent about $500,000.

This off season the town hoped to complete a replacement of the pool deck, which had deteriorated, install new gutters around the pool and resurface its interior. However, Trainor said because the town didn’t want to risk not having the pool ready for the camp and for residents to enjoy, it was decided at the Town Board’s first meeting of the year to hold off on this year’s work until right after Labor Day because they learned of the likelihood of delays in deliveries of materials of up to three months.

The town has gone out to bid on the decking, resurfacing and gutters and was waiting how much the phase of the pool project will cost. The town plans to bond the pool work.
“We’d rather do it right than rush it and take huge chances,” Trainor said of the decision to wait until after the summer. “We have a camp that relies on the pool, so that could have been an issue.”

Rende said future work at the pool complex could include looking at the pool building itself to make improvements to the showers, bathrooms and locker rooms.

Dog Park

When Meyer and her daughter approached the town in the spring of 2024, Rende said as someone didn’t own a dog, he wondered whether it would be viable. But then he recalled the 2022 survey and realized that many town residents were serious about having a park. A few months since its opening, Rende has been pleased with the reaction.

“Lo and behold, people are using it – and enjoying it – and people are talking about it,” he said. “I think it’s great.”

The area, not far from the bathrooms at Community Park, features separate areas for large and small dogs, benches and bags and a garbage receptacle so owners can clean up after their dogs. It’s enclosed by chain-link fence ranging up to six feet high with fabric, Trainor said. In the future, the town might add additional amenities for the dogs to play on.

“It’s been a positive thing, and in the wintertime, people are taking their dogs out,” he said. “There’s really been no issues or complaints that have come through my office, so it’s a win-win.”

Meyer said she will be celebrating her two dogs’ birthdays in March at the park, including the first birthday for her Maltipoo Henry and a three-year celebration for Lily, her family’s cockapoo. So far, she has utilized the facility for her dogs a few times a week, which is likely to increase in the warmer weather.

Dog owners have been able to police themselves and typically know whether their pets are able to interact with other dogs, Meyer said. In all instances that she has seen, the dogs have been well-behaved. One day, there was one large Labrador with his owner in the large dog section with several small dogs in the separate area. The small dog owners invited over the Labrador because he was well-behaved.

“The reality is dogs need exercise,” Meyer said. “It’s like they need sleep and they need exercise and they need food and water, just like humans, and it’s my experience that after I bring my dogs to the dog park, they’re calm, they’re happy, they’re tired. They need that type of exercise and situation, both physically and for the mind.”