Clovis rotates closures for dog park turf upgrades and reseeding

Clovis is rotating closures at its two dog parks so high-drive dogs do not lose both off-leash outlets at once. The City of Clovis said turf work is moving ahead at Letterman Dog Park, 908 Villa Ave., and Sierra Bicentennial Dog Park, 84 N Sunnyside Ave., with each site expected to close for about 30 days while Parks staff reseed and establish new grass.

Letterman Dog Park was set to close first, beginning May 11, 2026, and Sierra Bicentennial Dog Park will follow later, starting June 15, 2026. The staggered schedule keeps one park open at all times, a practical detail for owners whose dogs need regular running room, sniff time and a safe off-leash outlet. The city said the parks have seen steady use since opening and called them a “great success” and an amenity for residents.

The renovation is not just a cosmetic touch-up. Clovis said it is using a hybrid seed mixture designed for “intense usage” and built to handle shade, sun and summertime heat. That matters for dog-park turf, where repeated sprinting, hard turns and constant paw traffic can chew up grass fast. By giving each field roughly a month to establish before reopening, the city is trying to make the surface tougher and extend the life of both parks.

The move fits a longer planning arc. Clovis put its Dog Park Master Plan in front of the Planning Commission on October 24, 2019, and the City Council considered it on December 2, 2019. The plan was meant to set best practices, design standards and long-term recommendations for the city’s dog-park system, which now includes the nearly 30,000-square-foot Letterman Park site that opened on March 22, 2025 with separate fenced areas for small and large dogs, shaded spaces, benches and drinking fountains.

Sierra Bicentennial Park has already been through a separate round of improvements. In October 2024, Clovis announced that park would close from October 15 to mid-November for grant-funded work including an expansion, new benches and a new shade structure. Taken together with the 2026 reseeding, the city’s latest schedule shows a dog-park network being managed as working infrastructure, not a set-it-and-forget-it amenity.