The aging Indian Creek Recreation Center in Overland Park faces an uncertain future due to its location in a federal flood channel.
Overland Park built the outdoor recreational complex near 103rd Street and Marty Street in the 1980s and renovated it in the mid-1990s. It has open tennis courts, a connection to Indian Creek Trail, public restrooms that are open year-round and a playground.
The Indian Creek Recreation Center “has reached the end of its useful life,” and the city needs to replace it, according to the city’s proposed 2026 capital improvement plan.
However, because the center is completely in a federally identified floodway, the city cannot simply rebuild it in its current location, said Kyle Derringer, Overland Park’s budget analyst.
What is a floodway?
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency defines a floodway as a water channel and the land immediately next to it “that must be reserved” in order to catch overflow water and prevent flooding to surrounding areas.
- Indian Creek, from which the recreation center gets its name, is just to the south of the complex.
- For more information about floodways and floodplains in Overland Park, click here.
What does that mean for the Indian Creek Rec Center?
As part of the proposed 2026 capital improvement plan, Overland Park has earmarked $450,000 to help determine the recreational center’s future and possible design.
Derringer suggested last week during the Overland Park City Council’s Community Development Committee meeting that the city might consider relocating some of the recreation complex’s amenities, though the specifics are unclear.
One option, per the capital improvement plan, would be to relocate the restrooms, tennis courts and the shelter to a new place, though exactly where that could be is uncertain. In that plan, the parking lot, swing sets and playground would stay where they are.
Additionally, if the city moved the restrooms, tennis court and shelter, it would convert those former spots into a dedicated green space.
What happens next?
- The Overland Park City Council is reviewing the capital improvement plan for the next five years in the lead up to the annual budget approval process that usually takes place in the summer and fall.
- Eventually, the city council will also have to approve a contract for the design of an Indian Creek Recreation Center replacement project.
- Additionally, the city will need to set aside money for construction, which is tentatively scheduled for 2027.
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