Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Overland Park (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, and Village Presbyterian Church. Also, be sure to include Museum at Prairiefire in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Overland Park (Kansas).
Table of Contents
Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead
Tourist attraction in Overland Park, Kansas. The Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead is a family attraction in Overland Park, Kansas. The facility shows farm animals, birds of prey, show gardens, butterfly gardens, a nature trail, a Kanza Native American display, and a full-scale one-room schoolhouse. The facility also provides playgrounds, a fishing pond, horse-drawn wagon rides, and pony rides.
The facility began as a petting zoo in 1978 and was renamed in 1985 to honor Deanna Rose, an Overland Park police officer. Rose was the first Overland Park police officer killed in the line of duty.
In 2014, the site began hosting an elaborate Christmas light display around the Christmas Holiday Season.[1]
Address: 13800 Switzer Rd, 66221-7803 Overland Park (Shawnee Mission)
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum in Overland Park, Kansas. The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art is an art museum that is part of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas.
The Nerman Museum is named for donors Jerry and Margaret Nerman. It opened in October 2007, succeeding the college's former Gallery of Art. The building was designed by Korean architect Kyu Sung Woo.
Construction of the approximately $15 million Nerman Museum was realized through Johnson County Community College funding, with support from the Nerman Family, the M.R. & Evelyn Hudson Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Marti & Tony Oppenheimer, Richard I. & Jeanne S. Galamba, Barton P. & Mary D. Cohen, Dean E. Thompson, Irma Starr, Carl & Lee McCaffree, Jim & Mary Tearney, and Joseph & Margery Lichtor.
The museum building is clad in Kansas limestone. Throughout the museum's two levels are ten expansive galleries for temporary exhibitions and the permanent collection. Additionally, the museum houses the 200 seat Hudson Auditorium, Café Tempo, two classrooms, a Museum Store, a New Media Gallery, and art storage and preparation spaces. The museum boasts two lobbies – the Cantilever Entrance (featuring a 60,000 white LED installation by artist Leo Villareal) and the glass and metal Atrium Lobby.
The Nerman Museum's permanent collection consists of works gifted by the Oppenheimers and the Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation. It also includes art from Johnson County Community College's Permanent Collection.[2]
Address: 12345 College Blvd, 66210 Overland Park (Shawnee Mission)
Village Presbyterian Church
Presbyterian church in Prairie Village, Kansas. Village Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church located in Prairie Village, Kansas. The church was founded in 1949 with 282 members, and has since grown to be one of the largest Presbyterian Churches in America with a reported 4,789 members in 2013. The church's mission statement is “to see and relate to every person in our communities and the world as loved by God.”[3]
Address: 6641 Mission Rd, 66208 Prairie Village (Shawnee Mission)
Museum at Prairiefire
Museum in Overland Park, Kansas. The Museum at Prairiefire is a museum in Overland Park, Kansas. The museum is a 42,000 square foot facility that opened in May 2014 and has received honors for its architecture style. The museum carries displays created by other museums, such as American Museum of Natural History. Prairiefire secured a partnership with the American Museum of Natural History and displays two main traveling exhibits annually.[4]
Address: 5801 W 135th St, 66224 Overland Park (Shawnee Mission)
Strang Carriage House
Museum in Overland Park, Kansas. The Strang Carriage House is a historical building and museum in Overland Park, Kansas. It was originally constructed by William B. Strang Jr. for his carriages, automobiles and to serve as a residence for his driver. The exterior of the building is constructed of rough limestone with a clay tile roof and still has the original doors from its construction.
Since 1990, the structure serves as home to the Overland Park Historical Society and showcases a collection of items from the early history of Overland Park and the surrounding area. The location is considered suitable for enthusiasts to complete historical research.[5]
Prairie Village
City in Kansas. Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,957.[6]
Overland Park Convention Center
Convention center in Overland Park, Kansas. The Overland Park Convention Center, opened in 2002 and hosts on average 330 events each year. The OPCC sits on a 26-acre site in Overland Park, the largest suburb in the Kansas City, Missouri metropolitan area and the second largest city in Kansas. The mid-sized convention center features a 60,000-square-foot exhibition hall that connects to the 25,000 sq ft. Edwin C. Eilert Ballroom. The OPCC provides an additional 15,000 sq ft. of event space of divisible meeting rooms, and 40,000 sq ft. of pre-function space that proudly houses over 50 selected works of art created by renowned Midwestern artists.
OPCC was designed by architectural firm DLR Group. Major partners include Pepsi, Fern Exposition, Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue.[7]
Address: 6000 College Blvd, 66211-2401 Overland Park (Shawnee Mission)
Clock Tower Bakery
Park, Relax in park
Address: 7911 Santa Fe Dr, 66204-3644 Overland Park (Shawnee Mission)
Congregation Beth Israel Abraham Voliner
Orthodox synagogue in Overland Park, Kansas. Congregation Beth Israel Abraham Voliner is an Orthodox Jewish congregation in Overland Park, in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Formally established as Tefereth Israel in Kansas City, Missouri in 1894, by 1960 it had moved several times, and merged with three other congregations, taking on its current name. Responding to demographic shifts in Kansas City's Orthodox community, it opened a branch in Overland Park in 1987, and in 1994 it moved to its current location at 9900 Antioch Road.
Morey Schwartz was the congregation's rabbi from 1991 to 2000, Ari Perl served from 2000 through 2003, and David S. Fine served from 2003 through 2008. As of 2008 Beth Israel Abraham Voliner was the only Orthodox synagogue in Kansas City. As of 2010 it was the only Orthodox synagogue in the State of Kansas, and the rabbi was Daniel Rockoff. As of 2019, the interim rabbi is Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi.[8]
Address: 9900 Antioch Road, Overland Park (Shawnee Mission)
Strengthen the Arm of Liberty Monument
The Strengthen the Arm of Liberty Monument in Overland Park, Kansas, is a replica of the Statue of Liberty. It was placed by the Boy Scouts of America as part of its 1950s era campaign, "Strengthen the Arm of Liberty".[9]
Sprint World Headquarters Campus
Corporate campus in Overland Park, Kansas. The Sprint World Headquarters Campus is a collection of 17 buildings encompassing 3,900,000-square-foot on 200 acres in Overland Park, Kansas that formerly housed the world headquarters of Sprint Corporation, an American telecom company.
The buildings were designed by Hillier Architecture (which became RMJM in 2007) based on a theme which Sprint dubbed the "University of Excellence." RMJM had also designed the Basking Ridge, New Jersey headquarters campus of the AT&T Corporation (now the headquarters of Verizon Wireless).
The first buildings opened in 1997 as Sprint consolidated operations in 50 buildings in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Most of the buildings are four and five stories tall with the tallest structure being a 175-foot (53 m) clock tower. Included on the campus are an amphitheater for 3,000 people; parking garages for 12,500 cars; athletic fields, and hiking and biking trails with 6,000 trees that connect to public trails outside the campus. 60 percent of the land area was left green. At the time a Sprint official said Sprint opted for a low rise building rather than a tall structure because "communication doesn't happen as well when offices are vertical instead of horizontal." When it was built it was described as the largest office complex in the Midwest.
The building was enabled in 1989 when Overland Park gave the company a property tax abatement that called for 50 percent property tax abatement for 10 years and the remaining 50 percent paid initially over 20 years. Overland Park issued $1 billion in revenue bonds in 1997. The abatement expired in 2013.
The campus was designed to accommodate 14,500 employees and it reached its maximum capacity at the time of the Nextel-Sprint merger in 2004. Since then Sprint has been downsizing with 11,000 employees (7,300 Sprint employees, the rest contractors) in the complex in 2010. The headquarters for the merged company was consolidated in the building in 2008 when staff moved from Reston, Virginia.
In 2009 Sprint began subleasing portions of the complex allocating 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) to other companies starting with Sprint spin off Embarq (it eventually moved its headquarters to a different building outside the complex) Other subtenants include JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services which moved 800 employees to the complex from its offices on Ward Parkway in December 2009.
Other companies in the complex are Apria and CareCentrix with call centers there. KeyBank Real Estate Capital is also moving to the complex. Sprint has announced plans to rebrand the campus including renaming a street from Sprint Parkway to Outlook to accommodate JPMorgan and rebrand the name on the entrances.[10]