Crunching their shoes in the sand and hiking up the future parking lot of a future dog park, volunteers cheered and clapped for the ground-breaking of a new Wareham fixture.

Members of the Dog Park Affiliation of Wareham gathered around a pile of dirt, shovels and Dunkin’ cups in hand, on Saturday morning. The group’s president, Corey Blanchard, said the ground-breaking marked an exciting point for the dog park, which will be located off Maple Springs Road.

“It’s such a big relief,” Blanchard said.

The group hopes to have the dog park ready and open for visitors by this fall, she said. The next steps are for the town to select a contractor for the creation of the park, Blanchard said.

Plans for the park include a large dog area, a small dog area, benches, a parking lot and dog water fountains, according to conceptual drawings agreed upon by DPAW, Blanchard said in a past interview. The group has a 99-year lease with Wareham for seven acres, though the dog park is planned to take up just one of those acres. The remaining six will be saved for future development, like recreational areas and walking trails.

After Blanchard and others lifted shovels in the air to ceremonially break ground at the park, visitors trodded up a dirt hill to the land of the future park. Errant branches, piles of sticks and sand covered the land, but for those leading the celebrations, their view of the new dog park has already crystallized.

“It’s going to be the best for, ‘Who’s a good boy,’ and ‘Who’s a good girl,’” group member Sally Morrison said, laughing at the base of the park.