After more than a month on the market, Dogpatch USA is still for sale at a reduced price, but several buyers have expressed interest in purchasing the former theme park based on the Li'l Abner comic strip, one of the owners said Tuesday.
Co-owner, Charles "Bud" Pelsor, a 65-year-old welder who invented a spill-proof dog bowl, said four parties have made inquiries.
One buyer, which Pelsor described as an out-of-state "business consortium," said as recently as Sunday that it was still "very interested" in the park and was raising funds to purchase the property, he said.
Pelsor put the 400-acre park for sale in March after his business partner, James Robertson of Newbury, Calif., said he was in poor health and wanted to sell. The property in Newton County was listed at $3 million but has been reduced to $2.75 million, Pelsor said.
Pelsor and Robertson bought the property that was once a theme park from 1968 to 1993 for $2.2 million in 2014, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
The entire park is for sale, although Pelsor said he would be happy to sell only his partner's half and work with the new owner to convert the property into an ecotourism destination called The Village of Dogpatch.
The business consortium is interested in purchasing all 400 acres in addition to some of the surrounding property, Pelsor said.
"They said they would like to have me involved," he said. "They like the plan that I have, but they have plans of their own, of course. I feel like I’m on a mission and would like to complete it. There’s plenty of room, especially if they buy more."
Pelsor's plans include adding restaurants in the park and recommissioning the trout farm and mill on the property. He would also like to display artwork from painters, sculptors and woodcarvers throughout the park, the Democrat-Gazette reported.
He has continued with plans to develop the property by establishing a farmers market that has met every Saturday for the past month. But he said he's moving cautiously.
"We don’t want to schedule anything major and cancel it once the new owners have written a check."
Although a buyer is raising funds, Pelsor could not say when the sale might be completed.
"I've lived long enough to know it could be a day, a month, a year," Pelsor said. "I've learned patience. I don’t get excited until somebody actually signs the check."