Decatur selects Sandlin Road red barn site for new dog park

The city of Decatur has selected a site "by the 'red barn' on Sandlin Road Southwest" as a replacement for the Wilson Morgan dog park, Parks and Recreation Maintenance Supervisor Chris Seal told City Council during a Parks and Recreation Department presentation reported Feb. 25, 2026. The move follows the removal of the original dog park to make way for large-scale renovations at Wilson Morgan Park.

Parks and Recreation Director Hunter Allen said the department has architect designs and is finalizing plans for the Sandlin Road location. Allen told the council, "We're working on finalizing our plans. But it won't open until sometime this summer after construction on the Wilson Morgan parking lot is complete and the lot reopens." The city is currently using the spot north of Beltline Road as the overflow parking lot for Wilson Morgan Park while work continues.

The Sandlin Road selection comes amid a $52.5 million overhaul of Wilson Morgan Park that includes a 100,000-square-foot recreation center, projects city reporting tied directly to the displacement of the dog park. Yahoo News and the Decatur Daily reported that the original dog park, previously off Central Parkway, "had to [be] remove[d] last year" because of the recreation center footprint, language that has contributed to community frustration.

That frustration has been vocal. Suzie Wiley, who led fundraising to build the original Wilson Morgan dog park, reacted with relief at the Sandlin Road announcement: "That's wonderful," Wiley exclaimed. "That makes my day. I'm so happy, and more people will use it." Other residents have remained pointed in their criticism; WaayTV quoted Gilda Turner saying, "We want our dog park back, we want the people's dog park back," reflecting the political heat the removal generated during last summer's municipal elections.

City staff have taken interim steps while the Sandlin Road plan progresses. Hvilleblast reported that the city salvaged the majority of fencing from the Wilson Morgan Park, which opened in 2019, and repurposed that fencing to build large and small dog areas at the new Wolverine Dog Park near Point Mallard Drive. Hvilleblast also noted sun shades were recently installed at Wolverine and a water station is planned, advising patrons to BYO water for now; local reporting observed "About a dozen dogs enjoyed the new Wolverine Dog Park" and photo captions noted "Eight dogs socialize at Wolverine Dog Park in Decatur, Alabama."

Accounts differ on the exact timing of the Wilson Morgan dog park closure. Yahoo and the Decatur Daily framed the replacement as arriving "almost exactly a year after the city removed the original dog park," Hvilleblast reported the park closed "in January," and WaayTV recalled a March 2024 Parks and Recreation announcement followed "a year later" by the parks' disappearance. City statements made at the Feb. 25 presentation provide the most recent on-the-record timeline and the department says construction sequencing will determine the Sandlin Road opening this summer.