The dog-bowl magnate who owns Dogpatch USA has dropped the asking price by $250,000.
Now, for $2.75 million, you can buy 400 acres in rural Newton County that was a theme park based on Al Capp's Li'l Abner comic strip. In 1968, more than 300,000 people visited Dogpatch USA.
Most of the buildings are still there, and some of them have electricity now.
"We put electricity in five buildings," said Charles "Bud" Pelsor. "We have electricity in most of the village now."
Some of those buildings are hillbilly cabins that were occupied by fictional characters with names like Mammy and Pappy Yokum. When it was a theme park, from 1968 to 1993, local actors played the part of many of the comic-strip characters.
Pelsor put the property up for sale in March for $3 million. But so far he has had no offers, so he dropped the price this month.
Pelsor said his business partner, James Robertson of Newbury Park, Calif., wants to sell Dogpatch because his health has declined. Pelsor is 65 years old and Robertson is 75.
Pelsor said they bought the property for $2.2 million in 2014 and have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars cleaning it up and repairing buildings.
"We had two floods and cleaned it after both of those," he said.
Pelsor said he would consider selling part of the property and keeping part. That way, he could continue with his plan to build an ecotourism park on the site, with restaurants and a recommissioned trout farm and mill. Pelsor's plans also include painters, sculptors and woodcarvers in addition to a farrier and carriage rides.
Pelsor said they'll continue improving the property while it's on the market. He said a custom motorcycle show will be held there June 25.
Besides buying Dogpatch, Pelsor bought the former ski lodge at Marble Falls and moved manufacturing of Great American Spillproof Products Inc. from Louisville, Ky., to Harrison. On paper, the company is the owner of Dogpatch.
According to the website for Pelsor's company, greatamericanspillproof.com, its product is called the Buddy Bowl. "Dogs love it because water does not go up their nose. You love it because you have less mess," according to the website.
Pelsor said he would like to keep manufacturing in Harrison even if all of Dogpatch sells.
Pelsor said he sells Buddy Bowls worldwide.
"We ship large orders to Germany," he said. "Single orders go out all over the world."
Constructed for $1.33 million ($9.5 million in today's dollars), Dogpatch USA originally featured a trout farm, buggy and horseback rides, an apiary, Ozark arts and crafts, gift shops and entertainment by the comic-strip characters, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. Amusement rides were added later.
After the park closed, nature and vandals took over. The park was overgrown with trees and brush, and many of the buildings were falling down. It was a lost bit of Americana, sought out by the occasional trespassing tourist for nostalgia and its kitschy appeal.
Metro on 06/11/2016