Turned-up dirt in a field at Honor Heights Park was a beautiful sight Thursday for Matthew Weatherbee.

Weatherbee, president of Friends of Honor Heights Park Association, was excited about work starting on what soon will be Muskogee’s Butterfly House and Garden.

Although work started Monday, Friends of Honor Heights Park, the Muskogee Parks and Recreation Department and representatives of Georgia-Pacific attended a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday at the park.

“It’s very inspiring,” Weatherbee said. “It looks big. I was afraid it was going to look small, but it doesn’t.”

The Friends of Honor Heights Park Association members also received the second half of a $70,000 donation from Georgia-Pacific and were presented with a giant $35,000 check.

Gil Luton, manager of public relations for Georgia-Pacific, said the decision to donate $70,000 was an easy one. The GP donation enabled Friends of Honor Heights Park to surpass its $200,000 goal. The City of Muskogee Foundation matched the first $200,000 raised.

“This is a real important education project for Muskogee and Honor Heights Park,” Luton said. “We just felt like for the long term, this will go a long ways. It will attract families and kids to the premier park in the state.”

Muskogee Parks and Recreation Director Mark Wilkerson said structure work could be completed by the end of October. But the planting of the garden won’t happen until spring with a goal to be open for the Azalea Festival in April.

The garden will be located at the base of the park, near the concession and gift shop areas.

“We’re all very enthusiastic about having another great thing for people to come to Muskogee for,” board member Kim West said.

“It’s another draw for the greatest park in the area,” board member Dr. David Jones said.

The project is expected to include a screened-in classroom for students that will be built at the end of the existing gift shop building near the lake. Additionally, there will be formal gardens, a captive butterfly exhibit, and the area will be available for wedding and other event rentals.

The “Teacher’s Gardens and Butterfly Sanctuary at Honor Heights Park” will also be a place for area schools to introduce their students to environmental science, Wilkerson said.

It is an integral part of the Muskogee Convention and Tourism Bureau’s “Birds, Blooms and Butterflies” theme. The butterfly house will be a tourist attraction.

Reach Mike Carrels at (918) 684-2922 or mcarrels@muskogeephoenix.com.