Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Area Attractions | Butterfly World
May 10, 2008
If you are willing to go an extra mile to see sights that are very Floridian in nature, then let’s hit the road! I’m going to create a new series called “Off the Beaten Path” which will take us elsewhere, (but not too far) to see and experience the Fort Lauderdale real estate area.
We’ll start at a place called Butterfly World. It is located in Coconut Creek, about a 20 minute drive from the Downtown Fort Lauderdale real estate area.
Ronald Boender is the founder and managing partner. He was born of Dutch immigrants, grew up in Illinois, and has always been fascinated with butterflies, starting with the Cabbage Whites, Black Swallowtails, and Silk Moths he found while growing up on his father’s farm.
Boender moved to Florida in 1968, and after successful career as an electrical engineer, decided to actively pursue his interest in butterflies. He began by raising local butterflies and butterfly food plants in small numbers at his home, carefully observing and recording data on the many behaviors of each species.
Finding that there was a real need for farmed butterflies for sale to universities and zoos, Boender established MetaScience Co. in 1984 in the Fort Lauderdale real estate area. Having only a laboratory and a single aviary, the staff at MetaScience produced up to 1000 pupa per week, and established methods of butterfly rearing that are still in use at Butterfly World.
During this time, Boender also learned of attractions called “Butterfly Houses” springing up all across the world, particularly in the United Kingdom.
In 1985, he traveled to England to investigate this phenomenon and its possibilities. Upon meeting Clive Farrell, originator of the “Butterfly House” concept, founder and owner of the London Butterfly House, Boender already knew what his goal would be.
 
He would build a Butterfly House in America. The Fort Lauderdale real estatearea. Boender and Farrell entered into a partnership and began working on plans for the first butterfly house in the United States, however the design was a challenge because the park would have to incorporate many features.
It would be a public attraction first and foremost, but it was Boender’s hope that it would also be a center for research and education, and that it would included the living butterfly farm he had worked years to perfect.
Having met these original goals, Boender’s dream was finally realized on March 28, 1988, when Butterfly World opened its doors for the first time in the Fort Lauderdale real estate area.
In the years that have followed, the park has expanded to include the Country’s largest free-flight hummingbird aviary, a Lorikeet encounter, and along with them, a skilled aviculture care and research staff to support these endeavors.
The Passiflora Society International has been established to support further research and the sharing of information amongst those worldwide who share Boender’s love of these plants, the food source for many butterflies.
 A North American “Bring Back the Butterflies” campaign has also been successfully implemented as Butterfly World, resulting in thousands of enthusiasts across the Fort Lauderdale real estate area, as well as across the continent receiving free butterfly gardening information for their home region.
The story of Butterfly World is the story of a dream realized, and how one man’s dream when pursued, can effect his community and even the world in a wonderful way. So come, dream, and enjoy your visit to Butterfly World.
Directions and website are here.
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