NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Arson is suspected in an Aug. 3 fire that destroyed the main building at Dinosaur World, an abandoned theme park near Beaver that was named in 2010 as one of America’s “10 Most Endangered Roadside Places.”
“I wrote down suspected arson,” said Bob McVey, fire chief for the Grassy Knob Volunteer Fire Department. “That building has been sitting there empty for six years, so what’s going to start it?”
The 2,200-square-foot building once housed a restaurant and gift shop for the 65-acre park, which opened in 1960 and closed in 2005.
McVey said the cause of the fire won’t be further investigated because of the dilapidated condition of the building before the fire.
McVey said the fire had destroyed about half of the building in rural Carroll County on Arkansas 187 by the time firefighters arrived shortly after 8 p.m.
“It’s been a vacant building for years so there was nothing to save,” he said. “It was sort of a surround and drown situation.”
Concrete walls remain standing, now cracked because of the intense heat of the fire, McVey said.
McVey said 14 firefighters from three departments responded to the call.
Robert Norman, a firefighter and emergency medical responder from Inspiration Point Volunteer Fire Department, said water had to be trucked to the site from a hydrant three-tenths of a mile away. Norman said he made six trips hauling 3,500 gallons water per trip in a tanker truck, which was one of two that were used so firefighters could keep the blaze from spreading to adjacent forest land.
Their efforts apparently saved at least one concrete sculpture, which is near the front gate.
“We saved the caveman,” said Norman. “We put it out before it got to the caveman.”
The park features about 50 life-size, concrete dinosaurs as well as a 42-foot-tall replica of King Kong and statues of cavemen, deer and other animals.
The Society for Commercial Archeology included Dinosaur World in its first “Falling by the Wayside” list last year.
The group wants to see the park preserved, said Ralph Wilcox, who is on the society board and is also National Register and survey coordinator for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
Without the building, it may be more difficult for someone to reopen thetheme park, Wilcox said.
“The gift shop burning, that is somewhat significant,” he said. “For us, the sculptures are the heart of the facility and what is most important.”
The first 11 dinosaurs at the park were created by Emmit Sullivan, a sculptor best known for the 67-foot-tall Christ of the Ozarks statue in Eureka Springs, said Wilcox. Sullivan also made dinosaurs for Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, S.D. About 40 dinosaurs at the Arkansas park were made later by J.O. Parker.
Built by Ola Farwell, Dinosaur World was originally known as Farwell’s Dinosaur Park.
The former attraction near Beaver Lake served as an opening scene for the 1968 horror movie It’s Alive.It also was featured in the 2005 film Elizabethtown.
Peter Godfrey of Madill, Okla., owner of Dinosaur World, couldn’t be reached for comment.
According to Carroll County property records, Dinosaur World was valued in 2009 at $233,350. That amount included $86,950 for buildings. Besides the gift shop, there’s also a mobile home on the property, according to the tax records.
Wilcox said the society began compiling and publicizing the list of endangered places to “raise awareness of the fragile nature of roadside architecture.”
The 2011 list also included an Arkansas property, the Roundtop Filling Station constructed in 1936 in Sherwood. The 2010 and2011 lists are available on the society’s website at scaroadside.org.
Established in 1977, the society claims to be the oldest national organization devoted to the buildings, artifacts, structures, signs and symbols of the 20th-century commercial landscape. The society offers publications, conferences, and tours to help preserve and document the structures and architecture of the 20th century, including diners, highways, gas stations, drive-in theaters, bus stations, tourist courts and neon signs.
Firef ighters from the Holiday Island Fire Department also helped extinguish the blaze at Dinosaur World. Norman said firefighters remained on the scene until 5 a.m. Thursday.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 08/10/2011