Downtown Crystal Lake park decked out to raise awareness of habitat loss facing monarch butterflies

The gazebo at downtown Crystal Lake’s Depot Park will be decked out in butterflies through June, part of a city effort to build awareness about monarch butterfly and its lost habitat along its migratory route.

Mayor Haig Haleblian accepted the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation to support the Illinois Monarch Project in April, just as the Downtown Crystal Lake nonprofit launched a butterfly design project, selling wooden butterflies that residents can paint and return.

The painted butterflies will hang in Depot Park, temporarily renamed “Butterfly Park,” through June, according to a news release from the downtown association. A 5-foot pair of butterfly wings painted and built by local artist and business owner Carla Baldwin of Baldwin Web Design also i available the gazebo for photo opportunities and selfies.

“The committee started with 50 wooden butterflies and sold out the first day,” Stephanie Ormsby, Downtown Crystal Lake board member and owner of Wear Did U Get That, said in a news release. “We then sold 100 more butterflies which are now all on display near the Gazebo in Depot Park.”

According to the the Illinois Monarch Project, the eastern monarch population has faced a significant decline in migratory habitat over the past 20 years. The species of butterfly travels from the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico, to Illinois, a journey that takes two or three generations to make, before returning to Mexico for the winter.

The Illinois Monarch Project seeks to collaborates with public and private partners, in addition to individual residents across the state, to protect and expand existing habitat and establish new habitat for the butterflies.

Among the activities being undertaken by the city of Crystal Lake and the Downtown Crystal Lake association include planting sustainable habitats for monarch and other butterflies in the community parks, promoting the well-being of pollinators and giving away seeds to encourage residents to plant pollinator gardens at their homes.

On Saturday, May 8, Downtown Crystal Lake hosted its annual Flower Sale, featuring plants that are pollinator friendly, according to a news release. The city’s Sustainability Committee also was in attendance to answer questions and provide information on the Monarch Pledge.

For information about the program, go to the Downtown Crystal Lake website at www.DowntownCL.org.