Had it not been for him, this zoo might have faced to wrecking ball or continued to sit, slowly disappearing. We are so excited to see Montgomery repurposing this Arkansan landmark. UPDATE: As of 2017, Montgomery has expanded his mission to a 2 phase program called Zoo Outfitters Operation (ZOO), a faith-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation program for men. Montgomery has expressed that he is excited to be able to preserve what he considers an important landmark to Arkansas. From the very beginning when purchasing the old property, he was already planning new and creative ideas to use the zoo to help preach his message and make it fun for the congregation.Īs of August 2014, Montgomery and his church have renovated the three main buildings for the zoo and plan on using the old part for different ways to preach his message. After filtering out other possible locations, Montgomery one day passed by the old zoo and was immediately attached. This new chapter starts with a need for a new church building similar to the movie “We Bought a Zoo,” Rick Montgomery plays the part of Matt Damon in real life. The zoo and restaurant closing does not mean the story is over, it’s simply the beginning of a new chapter. Shortly after that, in the late 2000s, the restaurant closed and left the zoo once again left forgotten. Only the main building of the zoo was used and the rest of the zoo remained in the state of decay. The property sat rotting for many years until it was reopened as a restaurant. All of the animals within were shipped to zoos all across America. When the zoo changed hands, the owner didn’t have the same connections which, along with the lion escape, led to the forcible shutdown of the zoo. This included zoos, however, Ormond had a lot of political connections and respect from both Searcy County and Van Buren County. Van Buren has a law that states that you cannot have any exotic animals in the county. Even though the lion did not harm any of the cattle or residence, there were complaints to the city sheriff’s office. Two weeks after the escape, the tame lion returned to his cage to be fed again. The animal then escaped to nearby farms and was seen by many neighboring farmers. The final strike was in 1979 when the lion’s cage was left open. It then was known as just “Hallie’s Rest Stop” and the new owners made a few changes to the zoo that lead to a steady decline in guests. Hallie’s Rest Stop & Zoo continued to have a steady flow of business until the late 70s when Ormond sold the roadside attraction to a couple from Texas that were planning to develop a subdivision near-by. The zoo featured an ice cream shop, gift shop, restaurant, and had animals that included lions, tigers, bears, spider monkeys, and many other animals. In total Ormond had 6000 acres of land between both counties and a vast majority of it was used for the zoo. Always one for Amusement Parks, he was actually an early investor in the world-famous Dogpatch USA Theme-park that ran until 1993 near Harrison, AR.Īt 68 Years old, Ormond wanted to not only when the zoo first opened, it featured a miniature train vessel that was that had the tallest miniature train tracks in the world. He was born and raised a few miles from Dennard in the tiny community of Klba which sprang up around the railroad in 1905. Hallie’s was the result of a long-time dream and was also the fulfillment of Ormond’s ambition to try something he hasn’t done. Where else can you pull off the road to stretch your legs and, at the same time, ride a miniature railroad, tour a zoo, go on a pony ride, play games in an arcade, do a little shopping and dine on a gourmet ham sandwich? There aren’t many places.” No sir! Halite’s Rest Stop was to be an extravaganza-one tourists would remember for a long time to come. 65 near Dennard, he didn’t plan just an ordinary, simple rest stop. “That’s why when he decided to build Hallie’s Rest Stop alongside U. According to an article in The Camden News on June 22nd, 1974: Hallie Charles Ormond first opened the rest stop & zoo in on labor day, 1973 with hopes to attract people from all over Arkansas and create a roadside stop for tourists traveling toward Dogpatch USA.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |