Overland Park’s sister-city-inspired park is starting to take shape at 159th Street and Quivira Road.
The Overland Park City Council on Monday approved city staff’s rezoning request for the six-acre property set to become Bietigheim-Bissingen Park.
Bietigheim-Bissingen, a city in southern Germany, has had local relations with Overland Park for about 25 years, beginning with a band exchange program at Shawnee Mission South. Over the years, those ties deepened to include city officials.
Bietigheim-Bissingen Park plans cost about $3.5M
- Bietigheim-Bissingen Park, shortened to B-B Park, is expected to be built in 2024, according to Overland Park’s Capital Improvement Program list.
- The park is expected to open for spring 2025.
- The initial plans are to add a playground, a walking path, a public plaza and a picnic area.
- The project will also include building a public restroom facility and a parking lot.
- Other additional amenities that might be featured are a garden and a water feature of some kind.
Overland Park City Council approved park rezoning without issue
- The rezoning shifted the property from rural and open space residential zoning to make way for the park in the southern area of the city.
- The application was approved 10-0 as part of the planning commission consent agenda. That means it wasn’t considered separately but approved alongside a series of other smaller rezonings and planning items.
- Councilmembers Melissa Cheatham and Faris Farassati were absent.
The park’s public input process kicked off earlier this year
- Overland Park hosted a series of “plan your park” forums in the spring to gather input from the public on the park designs.
- Additionally, according to the city’s information page for the park, Overland Park plans to “incorporate architectural and cultural inspirations” from Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany into the park’s design.
Next steps:
- The design phase is expected to last through September.
- Approval of the site plans will come later.
Keep digging: Overland Park’s next public park to honor German sister city
