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After watching the deterioration of the dog park he frequently visits with his pet, an East Side boy decided he wanted to fix it up a little.

Raymond Snyder, a 14-year-old who is committed to becoming an Eagle Scout, will begin work on the off-leash dog area at Palo Verde Park, 300 S. Mann Ave., today. He plans to complete the work on April 22.

He chose to take on the task after noticing cracks in tables, water containers for dogs that created a muddy mess, and holes in the ground that left dogs with minor injuries.

Even his own dog couldn't always avoid the holes.

"He was running around one day, and he hit a hole and dragged along the ground," Snyder said.

Snyder is an eighth-grader at Booth-Fickett Magnet School, east of South Kolb Road between Broadway and 22nd Street. The park is near his school, on the west side of Kolb. He decided to make some improvements to fulfill part of the Eagle Scout requirements.

He pitched the concept to his Scoutmaster, Charles "Pete" LaRue, who liked the idea.

"When they can give back to the community, that's really the goal of an Eagle project," LaRue said.

Next, Snyder had to get approval from the city of Tucson to work at the park. He met with Midge Irwin, East District superintendent with the city's Parks and Recreation Department. The meeting rattled his nerves a bit, he acknowledged.

Irwin said she had no idea that Snyder was nervous when he presented his idea to her.

"The most appealing thing to me was that this young boy had experienced a desire to improve a public facility that he was using," Irwin said.

Snyder plans to fill in the cracks in the dog park's concrete tables and then repaint the tables. He also wants to adorn the tables with painted paw prints and the names of dogs that regularly visit the park.

He'll replace the existing water bowls — which dogs often play in as well as drink from — with a trough that should reduce the mess from the mud, he said.

He also wants to fill in some holes in the ground with dirt and install an L-shaped leash holder that he designed himself.

Snyder said he came up with the idea for the leash holder when he noticed that people would hook their leashes into the fence and sometimes struggle to get them out.

Irwin said that if Snyder's idea for the leash holder works, the city may use it at other dog parks.

And although it's not part of his Eagle Scout project, Snyder has volunteered to help the city when it brings in decomposed granite to cover the ground in the park, which should make the area a little less dusty.

To pay for the improvements, Snyder raised money by holding car washes. Irwin said the city is paying for the base paint for the tables, and it will chip in more money if Snyder runs short.

Snyder said the most difficult part of his project was planning what he wanted to do and making a proposal to his scoutmaster and to the city.

He hopes that when he's finished, more people will use the park.

"When I first moved in here, there was green grass, and a lot of people used the dog park," he said. Now, not as many people use the off-leash area to exercise their pets.

Snyder wants to complete the Eagle Scout requirements before he gets to high school so he can pursue his interest in soccer and help younger Scouts.

LaRue said the knowledge and experience of older Scouts are invaluable to the program.

"That's when they really come into their own — when they can sit and work with another Scout," LaRue said

Sometimes Scouting can't compete with boys' other interests. LaRue said some Scouts need motivation to continue, and others are in a hurry to complete the program.

It's about "nudging" them in the right direction, he said.

As for Snyder, he can't get the requirements completed fast enough.

"He's been rather impatient at times about getting things done," LaRue said.

His impatience might pay off. Some neighbors already have expressed gratitude that somebody is working improve the dog park, Irwin said.

East