Just as Wyld Oaks is seeking co-creators to bring its multifaceted mixed-use vision to life, it’s brought that same philosophy to planning its future dog park—America’s Top Dog Park. BARK at Wyld Oaks was a national crowdsourcing initiative launched in the summer of 2024 to put creativity in the hands of the experts—dog parents and lovers across the nation.

During the first phase, we asked the nation to help us dream big for the park’s design, and we received more than 100 pawsome ideas that helped shape the foundational programming and experience concepts for BARK (the current working name of the dog park). They also shared 65 adorable pup pics with us. From Alice, Bentley, and Copper to Xander, Yeti, and Zeke, we were able to visualize those who would be visiting BARK and the types of safe spaces they would need for running, playing, socializing, and staying cool. 

With all of those big ideas and inspirational images, our award-winning design team, LRK, got to work. They unleashed their imaginations and developed design concepts for BARK, which were shared for public feedback just in time to celebrate National Dog Day. In this second phase, America had the chance to choose between two exciting designs:

• Concept 1: A daisy chain approach that links park features by weaving them between future shopping, dining, and recreational centers at Wyld Oaks

• Concept 2: A more traditional dog park located within a single area that features different experiences 

The Orlando Business Journal reported on the plan for “a dog park to rival all dog parks.” Fox 35 also ran the story, which gave the anchors a chance to share some fun news as they introduced the segment about BARK.  

With nearly 600 people sharing their feedback on the concepts, the public input stage ended on September 30, and now we’re working hard to refine the final concept as part of the broader master planning process for Wyld Oaks.

“We always knew that an amazing dog park was part of the plan,” said Joseph Beninati, the founder of Wyld Oaks. “We talked about it when we first started sharing the development vision in early 2023. What we didn’t know back then was how much help we’d get from people all across the country!”  

We appreciate all the great ideas and look forward to sharing the park design that your input helped create as we move deeper into the design of Wyld Oaks.

As you can imagine, this process takes some time with a massive development project like Wyld Oaks, and we’ll share details as soon as they’re available. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe for emails so you don’t miss any pupdates about BARK or other news about Wyld Oaks.