A neighbor's wish

Volunteer spearheads new Batesville park project

Danny Dozier, vice president of Main Street Batesville, has volunteered his time for the past year and a half to create Maxfield Park in honor of his neighbor Anne Strahl, who died in January. Strahl was a descendant of the Maxfield family, a group of merchants who made their home in Batesville in 1842, and she left behind a trust to help maintain the park.
Danny Dozier, vice president of Main Street Batesville, has volunteered his time for the past year and a half to create Maxfield Park in honor of his neighbor Anne Strahl, who died in January. Strahl was a descendant of the Maxfield family, a group of merchants who made their home in Batesville in 1842, and she left behind a trust to help maintain the park.

— To honor the wishes of a neighbor and her family’s legacy, Danny Dozier has spent the past year creating green space, a waterfall and more for an up-and-coming Batesville city park.

Maxfield Park, which is planned to be open by the end of the year, is the brainchild of Dozier’s former neighbor Anne Strahl, who died in January. Strahl was a descendant of the Maxfield family, a group of merchants who set up shop in Batesville in 1842 and owned many buildings and property, including a half-acre plot between Broad Street and Central Avenue that Strahl wanted used for a park to remember her two deceased children.

“When you come to this park, you’ll be able to hear this waterfall, look at the sculpture or just sit and look at the bayou,” Dozier said. “It’s going to be a little oasis away from the concrete and steel.”

Originally, Strahl wanted the land donated to the city, but Dozier said he felt it was best to take that project off the city’s hands. Main Street Batesville elected Dozier its vice president to spearhead the project.

“The city is really involved with our new community center that’s being built,” he said. “They’re so busy with other things; I saw the potential that nothing was going to happen to this piece of property.”

With the help of the EAST (Environmental and Spacial Technology) Initiative at Batesville Junior High School, Dozier began designing — and revising — ideas for the park, but funding the project was a key concern. Though Strahl left behind a trust to maintain the daily upkeep of the park, the money is not allowed to be used to build the park, and the trust includes a stipulation that says the park must be established within a year of her death.

“When I heard that news, I thought, ‘Well, why would she have done that?’” Dozier said. “I really do realize why she did. For one thing, when we do get this park completely built, it’s going to require daily maintenance and repairs.”

To get started on the project, Dozier began fundraising last year. A local musician, Dozier formed the Batesville Downtown Foundation and held various music performances to raise funds, garnering $18,000 for the park’s establishment. Citizens Bank also loaned the foundation $50,000.

“My next goal was to start doing phases of construction,” he said. “The initial phases included doing elevation-level changes because multiple layers of elevation on the property would have to be worked on with heavy dirt equipment.”

Luckily, Dozier said, Independence County Judge Robert Griffin reached out to him about testing out new dirt equipment that the county was considering purchasing. Griffin wanted to use the equipment on the Maxfield Park site for free to test it out, which took care of the ground work at the park.

“One of the misconceptions — and it’s understandable; the general public kind of just hears different things — is that so many people have come up to me and said, ‘Well, I thought you had all this trust money,’” he said. “No, we don’t even have it, and if we spend it, we can’t use it to build the park.”

Dozier said he worked with a local stonemason, construction crews and business people to help the park get to its current state. He also said he gets a lot of guidance from Main Street Batesville President Bob Carius.

“He’s the sharpest man I’ve ever known in my life,” Dozier said. “I kind of run my thoughts and ideas through him and kind of get a lot of spiritual help, too.”

Dozier said the park will include a permanent wall to honor those who assisted in its creation and those who have donated more than $1,000.

This year, fundraising efforts include Dozier’s Buy a Bottle, Build a Park campaign. More than 200 antique soda, whiskey and perfume bottles were found at the park site, and Dozier has sold them for $30 to $100 each to help fund the park. Bottles are still available, he said.

Next year, Dozier plans on hosting a garden fundraiser in his backyard that will include a brunch and a mini tour of nearby historic homes.

By the end of the year, Dozier said, the park will be open and will include a sculpture by John Ellis. When the park is finished, it will include a children’s playground, a stage, a patio and bathrooms.

Dozier said working on the project has taken a lot of faith.

“I’m strictly doing this as volunteer work; I’m not making money off it,” he said. “It’s just a work of love. I just feel like it’s a good thing. I think God wants us to do good things.”

Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or at shayman@arkansasonline.com.

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