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 The welcome garden is located at the corner of Pekin
and Kickapoo Streets just a block off of the downtown square. In the
early days of Route 66, the road came into Lincoln on Kickapoo
Street, then turned west on Broadway where it connected with North
Logan and Fifth Street.
In 2017, the late Leslie Hoefle (wife of Alderman Rick Hoelfe)
brought a proposal to the city to turn the then vacant lot into a
Route 66 welcome garden. The city agreed to lease the space to the
Logan County Tourism Bureau for the construction of a garden. Hoefle
collaborated with the tourism bureau and downtown businesses to
raise the money needed to “furnish” the garden with a variety of
items.
The ribbon was cut on the garden in June of 2018. Since that time,
the Route 66 Byway sign has been moved from Postville Park to the
garden. The tourism bureau has talked about a few more additions it
would like to make to the park when the budget would allow.
Roate had reported to the bureau board members a request from the
Route 66 Monarch Flyway program for the installation of a monarch
garden in the park. The bureau board approved the request, and
authorized Roate to move forward with creating a plan.
At the city council meeting, Roate explained what would be done. She
has laid out a plan to install four raised flower beds. Each bed
will be planted with flora that is known to attract the monarch
butterfly. The plan is to have the garden ready for butterflies and
visitors in time for the first Third Friday event that will be held
on Friday, May 20th, weather permitting.
During the discussion period, Mayor Tracy Welch said that the
tourism bureau holds the lease on the property and there is no
action needed by the council. Roate was there to keep the council in
the loop, but was not in need of the city’s approval.
Walt Landers of the city street department said he
would like to review the layout and plan for the raised beds because
the city does the mowing at the park, and Roate agreed that Landers
should review the plan.
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Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs said that she had done some research
on this project and that she felt it was an important part of preserving the
Monarch population. She said she would encourage people to do some reading on
the topic. She also asked if Roate had plans for community education to go along
with the garden. Roate said yes there would be information provided. There will
also be signage at the garden designating it as a Route 66 Monarch Flyway.
The Monarch Flyway gardens are a project endorsed by the Illinois Monarch
Project. The IMP says that there is a 66-mile-wide corridor that basically
follows Route 66 from Chicago throughout the length of the state. This corridor
is a typical route for the migration of the Monarchs to Mexico where they
over-winter. Because of the use of weed control methods throughout rural and
urban areas, there is a lack of feeding and nesting locations throughout the
state for the butterflies. Without proper food and shelter, many of the
butterflies perish in route to Mexico.
Currently, there is one other Monarch Flyway in Logan County. The village of
Elkhart installed a flyway in 2021 and hosted a celebration of the butterfly in
June. There are also pollinator gardens on the campus of Lincoln College and
Lincoln College's Dr. G. Dennis Campbell Creekside Outdoor Center for
Environmental Education is dedicated in part to maintaining native grasses and
pollinators for the preservation of the Monarchs and other wildlife. The center
has an insectarium where Monarchs are nurtured to adulthood and released
annually.
For more information about flyway gardens:
June 2021 -Elkhart Monarch Flyway on Route 66 habitat stop opens
LDN - Top Stories (lincolndailynews.com)
Monarch Conservation Spotlight: Route 66 Monarch Flyway
Monarch Conservation Spotlight: Route 66 Monarch Flyway | The Monarch Joint
Venture
Illinois Monarch Project
Illinois
Monarch Project – Join us and save the Monarchs
[Nila Smith]
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