JASPER — Dogpatch USA desert theme park will be Marble Falls Nature Park, a task led by the founder of Bass Pro Shops, a state commission announced this week.
Bob Ziehmer, senior director of conservation for Bass Pro Shops, plans the plan at the Buffalo River Conservation Committee’s quarterly meeting, held Tuesday at the Jasper School Cafeteria.
John L. ” Johnny” Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, last year’s 400-acre assets in Newton County.
The proposed Marble Falls Nature Park will resemble the much larger Dogwood Canyon Nature Park near Lampe, Missouri, the conservation committee said. Dogwood Canyon offers a mill and restaurant, trout and fly fishing classes, hiking, horseback riding, and conservation education programs. .
Newton County Park will focus on the community’s history, which includes the site where a block of marble was mined, carved and transported to the nation’s capital in 1836 and one of the first stones incorporated into the Washington Monument, according to the filing. Dominio has also been a spa with water from a local spring.
The 400-acre Dogpatch site sold for $1. 12 million. For years, other people in northern Arkansas tried to convince Morris to buy Dogpatch, but it was worth $3 million in 2016. .
Built in 1967 for $1. 33 million (about $10 million in today’s dollars), Dogpatch USA featured a trout farm, cart and horse rides, animations through characters from Al Capp’s li’l Abner’s book of comedian, and the park’s railroad logo, according to the Encyclopedia. Arkansas rides were added later.
Morris has an estimated net worth of $4. 1 billion, according to Forbes. com, and a record number of successful conservation projects. He developed Big Cedar Lodge, billed as “America’s first wild resort,” and the 10,000-acre Dogwood Canyon Nature Park. , either in southern Missouri.
Dogpatch went on sale on the steps of newton County Courthouse in a foreclosure auction on March 3, 2020, before Morris bought it.