Construction is underway on Johnson County’s new courthouse at the corner of Kansas Avenue and Santa Fe Street in downtown Olathe. When the new courthouse opens in January 2021, the old courthouse will be demolished, creating a new space known as Johnson County Square.
The public weighed in on the preferred concept for the new Johnson County Square in Olathe. Attendees of an open house on Feb. 4 got the first chance to see the preferred concept and provide feedback. Others were able to review the concept and provide feedback on the element(s) that are most important to include in the first phase of the project, in addition to paving and pedestrian lighting. The survey closed on Feb. 29 and the results will be posted here when they are available.
Before narrowing it down to the preferred concept, the county gathered feedback from the public and a steering committee and developed the following three improvement concepts for the square.
| Design concept one | Design concept two | Design concept three |
|---|---|---|
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Design concept one includes the following proposed amenities:
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Design concept two includes the following proposed amenities:
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Design concept three includes the following proposed amenities:
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Schedule
| Kick-off | Concepts | Refinement | Approval |
|---|---|---|---|
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September 2019
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October 2019
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November 2019
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Winter 2020
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Pop-up Meetings
As part of the kick-off phase of this project, three pop-up meetings were held in September and October to gather feedback from the public on the project:
- September 6 and 7, 2019 at Old Settlers Day
- September 28, 2019 at the Overland Park Fall Festival
- October 5, 2019 at the Olathe Community Center
Programming ideas were gathered at the Old Settlers Day pop-up meeting, which were later grouped into eight themes. Those themes were then voted upon at the Overland Park Fall Festival and Olathe Community Center pop-up meetings.
A total of 259 people voted for the following theme preferences:
- Regional Attraction: 224
- Gathering & Eating: 194
- Family Activities: 190
- Passive Recreation: 156
- Active recreation: 150
- Art, History & Storytelling: 86
- Event Planning & Wayfinding: 68
- Other: 5
Public Survey
An online opinion survey was available from September 30 to October 15, 2019 to gather further feedback from the public on concept theme preference.
Steering Committee
As part of the planning process, a steering committee was formed for the Johnson County Square project. The committee provides feedback and guidance in addition to the public input. Two steering committee meetings have been held so far, with another planned by winter 2020.
Steering committee members include:
- Joe Waters (Johnson County)
- Danni Livingston (Johnson County)
- Rhonda Pollard (Johnson County)
- Susan Sherman (City of Olathe)
- Nikki Johnston McDonald (1st District Appointee)
- Nazyrah Rogers (2nd District Appointee)
- Jeff Stewart (3rd District Appointee)
- Tawn Nugent (4th District Appointee)
- Ryan Nelson (5th District Appointee)
- Jay Lang (6th District Appointee)
- Robert Brogden (Chairman Appointee)
The steering committee also helped the design-build team brainstorm potential programming concepts.
The concepts build on previous planning efforts, such as the Envision Olathe Downtown Plan (2018), Streetscape Master Plan and Downtown Design Guidelines (2003), Downtown Active Transportation Plan, Olathe’s Bike Share Implementation Strategy (2018), and more.
The outcome will be a phased approach to programming the Johnson County Square.
For more information about the new Johnson County Square, email Dan Wehmueller, Johnson County project manager. You may also follow the county and the city of Olathe on social media and use the #JoCoSquare hashtag.
