Photo by Eric Ayres Grounds are in good shape at the Fitzsimmons Family Dog Park at the Tunnel Green Recreational Complex in East Wheeling, which is scheduled to re-open for the season on Wednesday.

WHEELING — A significant stretch of pleasant spring weather has arrived in the Ohio Valley, and the city of Wheeling is ready to open its dog parks located in the neighborhoods of East Wheeling and Warwood.

City officials announced that the Fitzsimmons Family Dog Parks at the Tunnel Green Recreation Complex in East Wheeling and near Garden Park in Warwood will re-open for the season at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, April 12.

“The Fitzsimmons Family Dog Park near Tunnel Green is one of the most heavily used recreation facilities in the city,” said Wheeling Vice Mayor Chad Thalman, who also represents the Ward 1 neighborhood of Warwood. “The opening of the Warwood Dog Park will be an additional option for Wheeling residents and a convenient walkable location for anybody living in the Warwood neighborhood.”

Dog parks in the city typically close for the season around the first week of December and remain closed until sometime the following spring when weather permits their re-opening. Crews from the city’s Operations Division took advantage of above-average temperatures back in February of this year to spruce up the Fitzsimmons Family Dog Park at Tunnel Green.

Officials have been working to make sure that the dog parks are in good shape for visitors and their four-legged companions before opening for the season.

The new dog park in Warwood located near Heritage Trail, the tennis courts and Warwood Middle School has not yet officially been dedicated with a grand opening, although it will welcome visitors for the first time on Wednesday.

“Warwood is a soft opening,” Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said Monday. “There will be an official dedication and ribbon cutting in the next few weeks.”

The Warwood Dog Park was installed last year by Ohio-West Virginia Excavating of Powhatan Point, which entered into a contract with the city for $165,495 for the work. However, the opening of the new dog park was delayed after city leaders were dissatisfied with the seeding of the grass. The contractor re-seeded the dog park in October, and the grass took to the surface much more thoroughly, according to city leaders, who recently toured the property and expressed their satisfaction with the grassy grounds.

Also in October, the second Fitzsimmons Family Dog park was opened in the city behind the White Palace at Wheeling Park. City officials said the management of that dog park is headed by the Wheeling Park Commission. That park is open for the season.