Key Takeaways:
• Craig and Laura Underwood, owners of Underwoods Fine Jewelers, donated 38 acres of land to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to establish Underwood Park.
• The park addresses a need for recreational space in northwestern Fayetteville on the former site of the Razorback Park golf course.
• Phase I of the park development cost $3.6 million, largely funded by a 2019 Bond Initiative, and features sports courts, playgrounds, and custom artwork.
Jewelers giving back to markets served can take many forms from winter coat drives to silent auction donations. That’s just prudent promotions that are mostly part of a jewelry store’s community-based cause marketing efforts.
Then there’s giving back to the community for the sake of giving. And Craig Underwood, owner of Fayetteville, Arkansas-based Underwoods Fine Jewelers, has officially reached next-level status in charitable donations. In early November, Craig and his wife Laura cut the ribbon on Underwood Park, a 38-acre park complete with all of the amenities and features that make such recreational areas a green oasis.
“When the kids were growing up we loved going to Gulley Park on the east side of town,” says Craig. “So many incredible happy memories were made there. Fayetteville has many great parks, but the western part of the city is underserved when it comes to city parks. When my wife and I acquired a number of acres of land we decided to give 38 acres to the city, free and clear, so this part of Fayetteville could have its own city park.”
The Underwoods are no strangers to being strong supporters of city parks. Laura Underwood has been a park and rec volunteer for many years. In 2018, Laura was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award from the State’s Board of Park and Recreations. “The award was for the entire state of Arkansas,” says Craig.
Fayetteville is roughly 55 square miles in size with an estimated population of 106,623 as of July 2025, up from 93,949 during the 2020 official census. For many years the city was served well by four parks. But according to Craig, and other residents, the northwestern part of Fayetteville needed its own park. By most urban standards a “local park” is a brief drive or a short walk from home.
Residents of northwestern Fayetteville had to do some commuting to enjoy their park and rec activities. Underwood Park changed all that in early November when the red ribbon was cut by Craig and Laura, adding a fifth park to the city.
Generosity by nature is a spontaneous act. But the scales of giving away 38 acres of land require some planning. For Underwood Park the seeds of destiny were planted in October 2015 when the Razorback Park golf course (an 18-hole public facility) was permanently closed after 57 years. The course had been closed in anticipation of being rezoned and sold to a developer.
The Underwoods learned that building a park is an arduous task. The process is weighed down by procedural necessities from months or even years of city council meetings that are open to the public and environmental impact studies to mind-numbing bid reviews from developers beholden to the whims of planning commissions.
And, of course, there’s public opinion, which is fickle on a good day. By the summer of 2016, the surrounding neighborhoods organized a powerful protest to the new development and after several months of contentious city council meetings the city denied the rezoning request. Unfortunately, the lengthy process for developers to present their plans to city council meetings stretched out the entire summer season. By autumn the once majestic golfing grounds were overgrown, unsightly and had a dark cloud hanging over it due to the failed rezoning effort. This drove down the price of the land, according to Craig.
But, where there is land development adversity investment opportunities can arise. Craig and Laura were looking for some long-term investments. Through a series of land purchases spanning three years the couple purchased the 124-acre golf course plus two more tracts of land totaling of 161 acres, 38 acres were given to the city along with 20 acres of land leased at no-cost.
That enables use of cart paths left over from the golf course as unimproved walking trails. Also, as city development progresses to the south additional land will be dedicated to other development projects in order to meet the City of Fayetteville’s park land dedication requirement.
The 38-acre land donation by the Underwoods was Phase I of the park’s multi-phase, multi-year plans to create a city park that boasts 65 acres in total size and will host a number of amenities and features. Costs for Phase I (not counting the land) were roughly $3.6 million; $3.4 million of that budget was covered by a 2019 Bond Initiative, according to a September 9, 2025, report from the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Phase I will have a natural playground including zip lines. Other features include pickleball and basketball courts, pavilions, a restroom building and plenty of parking. “We wanted to provide plenty of parking spaces for residents but also for food trucks,” says Craig. “This will provide plenty of options for events at the park.”
Underwood Park bears the name of the family that has a lengthy retail jewelry tradition in Fayetteville. But Craig, his wife Laura, and their family members don’t view the park as a site that belongs to the family based on the generous land donation. True to their altruistic nature Underwood Park belongs to the people of Fayetteville. That doesn’t mean Craig and Laura couldn’t tailor the park’s landscape with their taste in art.
For many years Craig served on the board of Jewelers Mutual Group. Similar to many business trips Craig never did any sightseeing in and around Neenah, Wisconsin, where the Group is based. In May 2025, Craig brought Laura with him to attend his last Jewelers Mutual Board meeting. Before returning to Arkansas the couple toured famed Door County in neighboring Michigan.
During their travels they discovered the sculpting works of Dale Rogers. The couple commissioned two large metal sculptures for Underwood Park. “The sculptures were purchased at Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek, Wisconsin,” says Craig. “One is a 12-foot tall dog sculpture called American Dog. The other sculpture is of a tree called Spring Awakening. Both were created at the artist’s studio in Haverhill, Massachusetts. The commissioned pieces traveled from the artist’s studio to Underwood Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas. That’s quite a road trip.”
