LOCAL NATURE ATTRACTION TO BECOME TRIBUTE TO OZARK LANDSCAPE

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -Faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture is working with local landscape architects and horticulturalists to develop a 6-acre park that will celebrate the natural beauty of the Ozarks.

The site development team will attend the Bentonville Planning Commission Tuesday, April 3 at 5 p.m. to apply for a Conditional Use permit.

The community park, to be located in Bentonville, will include a walking nature trail, bicycle trail, bird sanctuary, amphitheater and overlook deck, a large meadow and numerous areas to observe native Arkansas plants.

"This park is important to the history of the area, because it will preserve and enhance plants and wildlife native to northwest Arkansas," said Karen Rollet-Crocker, associate professor of landscape architecture at the School of Architecture and member of the site development team. "It’s a tribute to the Ozark landscape and a tribute to one of northwest Arkansas’ great environmental advocates."

The park is being developed in honor of Dr. Neil Compton, of Bentonville, who founded the Ozark Society and led the efforts to preserve the Buffalo River by preventing construction of a series of dams along the river. He also successfully led the effort for the Buffalo River to be named a national river by the National Park Service. Compton believed that people seek undisturbed, peaceful places for spiritual, emotional and physical reconstitution.

This site will honor the very characteristics of the Ozarks that Compton admired, said Rollet-Crocker.