MUSCATINE, Iowa — It won’t be long before the Weed Park Zoo Garden comes to life.

Landscape work will begin within the next month on the project spurred by volunteers interested in creating six gardens of flowers, shrubs and trees with animal names and features to the park for the public to enjoy.

“Soon we will want to coordinate volunteers,” said Zoo Garden Committee founder and Master Gardener Maryrose Peterschmidt.

The city and committee members will meet within the next week or two to establish the process. “I didn’t think we would ever see it happen,” Peterschmidt said.

Peterschmidt brought up the idea three years ago and other volunteers have joined her in raising money to see it come to fruition. Last week, the Muscatine City Council approved a $73,892 bid from Kellor and Kellor Landscape Inc. of Muscatine for the hardscape (masonry work, woodwork and other non-plant elements.) All of the softscape, such as planting and placing of materials, will be done by volunteers.

“The best way to get in tune with this project is to dig in the dirt and the mud and get dirty,” said Muscatine Parks and Recreation Department Director Rich Klimes. His department will oversee the main objectives of the project.

The Weed Park Zoo was introduced in 1921 and over the years housed honey bears, Bengal tigers, African antelope, peacocks, monkeys, deer, foxes, raccoons and reptiles. Two of the most memorable animals were an elephant named Dolly and lioness named Sheba. The zoo was closed in 1980 due to rising costs and concerns for the welfare of the animals.

The Weed Park Zoo Garden would grow plants in areas near where the zoo animals once lived, and incorporate the log cabin that once served as a reptile house. Trails lined with other pet-named plants would connect the gardens dubbed Buffalo and Friends, Monkey Business, Elephant and the Jungle, Reptile-Land or Water, and Butterflies, Birds and Bees.

Peterschmidt said she has always been interested in the park and wants people to recognize that it was donated by a generous couple about 100 years ago named James and Mary Weed. They were early settlers of Bloomington, before the city was named Muscatine, and James Weed was a dentist. He had a passion for

horticulture and eventually donated the land for Weed Park to the city, she said.

She added that the Zoo Garden will also be a way to bring back old memories and make new ones at the park.

“The log cabin is the last remaining structure left from the old zoo. Dave Cooney (of Muscatine) and friends saved the cabin and are in the process of restoring it,” Peterschmidt said.

A $20,000 endowment has been established for maintenance and upkeep of the zoo garden, which will cost $1,000 annually, according to preliminary estimates. Volunteers and funds are needed. Peterschmidt said that Boy Scout troops, members of  United Food and Commercial Workers Local 86D and others have already done a significant amount of preparation work for the project.

To donate time or money call Zoo Garden Committee members Maryrose Peterschmidt, 563-263-0846; Sue Robinson, 563-263-7752 or Marci Stephens, 563-263-7618. An endowment is established at the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine, 208 W 2nd St., suite 213.