When Jordan and Adam Bergeson moved to Columbia in 2021, they brought two dogs, Billie and Bingo, and a habit they couldn't shake: long afternoons at a place where the dogs ran loose and the humans held a drink. In Atlanta, that combination was ordinary. In Columbia, it didn't exist.
"We would go there almost every day and hang out and get a drink, and it was just awesome," Adam told the Post and Courier. "When we got here, Columbia's climate is similar to Atlanta's, but we just didn't have those same opportunities."
So they built one. On October 17, 2026, Leisurehound Athletic Club — the city's first off-leash dog park and biergarten — will throw its official grand opening celebration under a "Barktoberfest" banner at 2801 Drayton St., about two miles north of downtown in the North Main District. The party follows a ribbon-cutting the day before, on October 16.
The idea was already hatched by the time they unpacked. They began hunting for property at the end of 2024 and found their site at the end of 2025. The club opened quietly on September 18, giving neighbors a soft-launch season to register their dogs before the official celebration.
What they built is modest in footprint and ambitious in premise: a half-acre "community hub" with a fenced-in play area, an on-site bar, and a separate food truck zone positioned just outside the fence but still visible from the play area — so owners can keep an eye on their dogs while they eat. The bar pours soft drinks, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic options. Humans enter free, whether or not they bring a dog. Dogs need a day pass or a membership.
The pricing is built for both drop-ins and regulars. A day pass runs $15 per dog, aimed at out-of-towners. A monthly membership is $45, with a $20 add-on for a second dog, and can be paused or canceled at any time. The annual membership is $440 — the equivalent of about $36.66 a month — and comes with five free day passes for newcomer pups. There's also a 10-visit pack for $120 that expires after six months.
The rules are strict, and deliberately so. Dogs must be at least four months old and current on DHPP, Bordetella, rabies, and leptospirosis vaccinations, with paperwork uploaded before entry. Every dog eight months or older must be spayed or neutered, even for a single-day visit. Owners must sign a waiver and create an account through the club's membership platform. Humans must be 13 or older to enter the park, with adult supervision required under 18. Outside food and drink aren't allowed in the main park. Any dog showing aggression is asked to leave, no refund.
The location is the part of the story that reaches beyond dogs and beer. The property sits adjacent to 19 acres of city-owned land slated for the North Main Vista Greenway expansion. The land in question once held homes that were razed decades ago to make way for a freeway that was never built; it sat vacant for years, hosting the North Main Community Garden and informal football practice, before Columbia bought it from the state Department of Transportation in 2022 with plans to develop it. The city has been gathering public input on what to build there, weighing ideas from housing and a grocery store to green space for outdoor events.
The Bergesons, who live in Earlewood, told the Post and Courier they see shades of the Atlanta BeltLine — the 22-mile project that turned historic rail corridors into parks, trails, and transit connecting 45 in-town neighborhoods — in what's coming to North Main. Their park sits within minutes of Earlewood, Elmwood, Cottontown, Bull Street, Main Street, and the USC campus.
The name itself is a small joke about the life they want for their dogs. On the club's website, Billie and Bingo are described as living "the ultimate life of leisure": long neighborhood strolls, swim time in Lake Murray, and daily snuggle sessions. "Leisurehound" is what the Bergesons call a dog who's got it made.
Barktoberfest is the public invitation to that idea. It's an outdoor, drop-in affair — no ticket needed for people, no reservation required to wander in and see what the fuss is about. Dogs, as always, need to be registered and paid up. The club's fall hours, which run through October 31, are noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Because it's an outdoor park, hours can shift with the weather, and the club posts changes to its social channels.
For a city that spent years debating what to do with a vacant stretch of land along a greenway that didn't yet reach it, the answer, at least on one half-acre, turned out to be a bar, a fence, and a lot of running dogs. The Bergesons are betting that's enough to make a neighborhood gathering spot — and that Columbia, like Atlanta before it, was ready for one.