As it turns out, Dogpatch USA will not go up for auction on March 3. Surprisingly enough, the former “Li’l Abner” theme park and current ruin has found a “solid buyer,” according to Stewart Nance, one of the holders of the defunct park’s mortgage.
The Dogpatch tumult came to a head last February when the Newton County Times printed a legal notice, informing the public of the park’s impending foreclosure auction. The Nances acquired the property in 2011, after settling with the park’s then-owners after Nance’s other son was almost decapitated in a freak ATV accident on the property. They eventually agreed to lease the park to Bud Pelsor, owner of Great American Spillproof, but last September the Nances filed a lawsuit against Pelsor and his company. Great American Spillproof had fallen behind on lease payments and a balloon payment on the $1,031,885 still owed to Nance and his less accident-prone son.
By this time, Pelsor had already explained to AY that he planned on leaving the property in favor of starting a music label/recording studio in Indiana. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that the Nances went unpaid, setting the stage for Dogpatch’s March 3 auction on the Newton County courthouse steps.
Nance planned on starting the bidding at a hopeful $1 million, but an interested party contacted him earlier this week. As of today, the buyer’s identity remains a mystery. Nance postponed the foreclosure auction for two months, depending on how the ongoing contract negotiations pan out.
See here for our full January article on the history and status of Dogpatch, USA.
