MUSCATINE, Iowa – Muscatine’s Pollinator Park has been the dream of individuals and groups for many years and all that hard work is ready to bear fruit, so to speak. The migration stop for butterflies, bees, and all sorts of pollinators will be the place to be this Saturday as the ribbon is cut to officially open the park.
Pollinator Park is located on the west side of South Houser Street between the Muscatine Humane Society and the entrance to Kent Stein Park. The ceremony will be held at the west end of the entrance road near the sign pole.
Parking is available at Kent Stein Park (just follow the trail to the ceremony location).
Festivities will begin at 10:30 a.m. when the Muscatine Pollinator Project will sponsor a planting party of native wildflowers. That will be followed by refreshments at 11:30 a.m. and the official ribbon cutting at 12:00 p.m.
“We urge anyone who has an interest to come out and help plant some plugs this Saturday,” Jon Koch, director of the Water Pollution Control Plant for the City of Muscatine and one of the prime movers of the project, said. “And stay for the refreshments and the ceremony.”
The City of Muscatine joined forces with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Muscatine Pollinator Project to develop a 30-acre plot of land on the city’s southwest side into a native habitat for animal pollinators. The park not only features a wetland and grassland area for visitors to enjoy but also a mile long trail that will take the pedestrian or bicyclist from the Kent Stein Park trailhead around the park and the Muscatine Transfer Station and Recycling Center back to the entrance of the park.
The South Houser Street area is becoming a focal point for outdoor enthusiast. Kent Stein Park and the Muscatine Soccer Complex are already fixtures in the area and will soon be joined by the Muscatine Pollinator Park and, later this summer, the Muscatine Dog Park. In addition, a parking area and multi-purpose athletic fields is in the planning stages for development later this summer just across from the soccer complex.
Read the May 16, 2017, story on the Pollinator Park Project HERE.
Ribbon Cutting Flyer
