New Overland Park Farmers Market opens in June. Get a sneak peek of the upgrades
What was once renderings, concepts and ideas is now coming to life as the new Overland Park Farmers Market nears completion.
Canopy shade structures stand like tall trees along Marty Street. The indoor pavilion is taking shape with limestone walls and a lumber interior. Concrete is poured and trees are planted in some community gathering spaces.
Eventually, solar panels will be added to the roof, LED lights will be installed along walkways, and more native plants will be in the ground. Giant new screens and stages will be set up just in time for soccer match watch parties this summer.
With a grand opening date set for June 5, construction crews have about six weeks to finish up the $34 million project, now dubbed Clock Tower Landing. Its opening date will commemorate the first time the city’s farmers market opened in 1982, said Kristina Stanley, the Overland Park Farmers Market manager.
“There’s a lot happening in a very quick time,” Stanley said during a tour of the new site on Tuesday. “This is a new space where we’re all going to be living and learning together. There will be some things that are great, there will be some things that we work through.”
Record numbers
More than 100 vendors signed up to participate in this Farmers Market season, with a record-breaking 90 vendors at the season opener at the Matt Ross Community Center last Saturday, Stanley said.
The new space on Marty Street and Overland Park Drive is designed to hold 90 to 95 stalls, but meant to be flexible based on a vendor’s needs.
“No stall space was created equally and that was done so if somebody only needs a 10-foot stall, we have it,” she said. “Market attendance has been very high and the market keeps growing, so when shopper numbers are going up, that means the vendors are going to have to bring more products to be able to meet that demand.”
In 2023, nearly 260,000 people attended the market with 10 rainy days. In 2025, more than 340,000 shoppers visited with 13 rainy days. The city anticipates that it will see 12,000 people on Saturdays and 3,000 people on Wednesdays for its 2026 season, which goes until the end of September.
Similar size, significant upgrades
Overland Park made some improvements to the old farmers market site in 2018, but city staff knew the space wouldn’t last forever and needed to plan for the future, city spokesperson Meg Ralph said. Following resident feedback that called for more gathering spaces, shade structures and pedestrian access, the City Council approved the project in 2024.
More seating will be found under the 16 shaded canopies throughout the market and on the patio of the new 400-foot by 40-foot indoor pavilion. Small stages will be inside and outside the pavilion for local bands to perform or to be used for other events.
“It’s actually very similar in size to the previous one but clearly the amenities have been significantly, significantly upgraded,” Stanley said.
Water mains from the 1940s were replaced. All electrical lines have been buried. Construction crews repaved and redesigned Marty Street to make it more pedestrian friendly. Twelve, air conditioned “toilet rooms” sit at the far end of the pavilion, which will have floor-to-ceiling doors to ensure complete privacy.
The pavilion will have heating, but no air conditioning in order to allow the market to run year-round, but on a smaller scale in the winter, Ralph said.
