McPHERSON, Kan. — The City of McPherson, along with McPherson Park Department, held a dedication ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 20 for the Challenger Park Butterfly (Pollinator) Garden, located on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Oak, behind Fire Station No. 1.
Public Lands and Facilities Director Wayne Burns welcomed the community and city staff Tuesday, sharing that the project has taken over a year, and about 800 man-hours.
“This vision started about a year ago from one of our city commissioners,” said Burns.
Last year, Commissioner Gary Mehl called Burns, along with Park Superintendent Lauren Przymus and the Parks’ horticulturists into a meeting.
Burns thought that Commissioner Mehl was just going to compliment them all on the flower beds within the city limits because of how good they looked last year. Instead, Mehl’s intention was actually to suggest a butterfly garden.
“He [Mehl] gave us the assignment to find a place to put it in and get the job done,” Burns said.
Burns shared that there was space left over from where the tennis courts used to be that was growing with weeds, so that was where they decided to put the garden.
The design was constructed by the city’s horticulturists at the time. The idea was that, from above, the garden would look like a butterfly.
Wetlands Irrigation added the water feature in the garden, and did the irrigation work.
New turf was added on to both ends of the garden, and had to be redone several times due to the heat this past summer.
Burns thanked the following City of McPherson Parks Department staff for taking the leadership of getting the park completed: Jordan Plughoeft, Bennett Turner, Ethan VanDorn, Jace Martin, Kathleen Deeter, Lauren Przymus and Hunter Egging.
“They made it happen,” Burns said. “They were out here during the heat in the summertime, as hot as it was, making sure we could make today our dedication day.”
In addition to Przymus directing the staff, Hunter Egging (a seasonal staff member) was also instrumental in assisting the staff with the project.
Park Board Members who were in attendance at the Butterfly Garden Dedication on Tuesday included Dr. Michael McIrvin, Kurt Wagner and Gary Flory.
Commissioner Mehl thanked Burns for his leadership on the project as well. He commented that the area was “very distressed” not too long ago, with tennis courts falling down not being used and weeds growing.
“We’ve taken this corner of town and really developed it into a beautiful area,” Mehl said. “I’m really proud of it. I’m anxious to see in a couple years how these plants mature.”
One of the main goals for the garden is to make it an educational space. Commissioner Mehl said people can use the area, go to the library and pick out books on different pollinators that come in.
“I think this is going to be an exceptional opportunity for people to learn,” Mehl added. “And it’s also a place of solitude where you can come. There will be additional benches put out here. You can sit on the benches, listen to the water, watch the butterflies and the different birds come around. I think people are really going to enjoy it.”
Burns said they plan to incorporate some signage that explains what type of plants there are and their purpose, and then have the life cycle of a monarch butterfly.
“I think people will really love it once it gets going,” Burns said. “I see in the springtime, classrooms coming out here, studying.”
Currently, there are 30 different species planted in the garden and 600 tulip bulbs are scheduled to be put in next week. They should be ready by springtime.
“Each one of our plant species right now is marked and identified,” Burns said. “Our goal with it is to have the name and also have the QR code there where people can pull it up, shoot it on their phone and see it in full bloom.”
On one side of the garden, there is a memorial bench, purchased in honor of Ike Bauer, a 2023 McPherson High School graduate who passed away on Jan. 26, 2026. Local elementary students made artwork to go along with the memorial as well.
“That is a memorial that his [Ike’s] grandmother picked out for him,” Burns shared. “There are other areas where we will do the same thing if anyone is interested. We will continue that until the space is full.”
People can also purchase memorial trees and have them planted in the garden.
According to Burns, Challenger Park, originally known as Deer Park, is the third oldest park in the City of McPherson’s park system. In 2002 the name was changed to Challenger Park and just had the basketball and tennis courts. Now, there is an addition of the pickleball courts and the butterfly garden.
