Chester County Closes Butterfly House

Citing financial reasons, Chester County decided to shutter the Butterfly House at Springton Manor Farm in Glenmoore last month.

The house closed July 23. It might be replaced by a butterfly garden:

The Chester County Commissioners appreciate the educational and aesthetic aspects of the Butterfly House, and have asked the Facilities & Parks Department to investigate the development of a butterfly garden at Springton Manor, similar to the butterfly gardens found at other Chester County parks, which attract native butterflies and which illustrate the concepts of the butterfly life-cycle.

According to Chester County communications coordinator Rebecca Brain, Springton Manor received a shipment of 240 butterfly chrysalides a month ago, but not all hatched into butterflies.

So, did the butterfly house just open its doors and set the inhabitants free? Nope—the colorful insects were allowed to live out their natural, relatively short lives in the house. 

"Many of them are not native," Brain said. "So, as part of an agreement with the USDA, no butterflies were ever released."