Turning 60, Johnson County park and recreation district has a productive year in the planning stages

It’s been a historic year for Johnson County Park and Recreation District.

Projects like the King Louie building on Metcalf and development of Rieke Lake and Big Bull Creek Park –— on hold for years — came unstuck this year with approval of a property tax increase and bonds. And plans are underway for a public/private development of a big park in Prairie Village on the site of the Meadowbrook Golf and Country Club.

Not a bad way to turn 60.

The park district celebrates its diamond jubilee with a free day of activities from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Theatre in the Park, 7710 Renner Road in Shawnee. On tap will be a display of giant kites from the Kansas City Kite Club and entertainment from Beatles tribute band Liverpool, Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove, Four Fried Chickens and a Coke, Travis Marvin, StoneLion Puppet Theatre and Abracadabra Extravaganza.

There will also be hayrides, food trucks and a beer garden.

The park district was created in 1955 and is unique in the state of Kansas. It has its own governing board and a separate tax levy, although the county commission still has final approval over what that tax rate will be.

This year the district got approval for a landmark tax rate increase beginning in 2016. The district will get a 0.75-mill boost in its tax rate to pay for development of regional park land bought years ago that has remained undeveloped and inaccessible. The district also will add to its streamway trail system and upgrade existing parks. A mill equals $1 of tax per each $1,000 of taxable value.

In addition, the county museum will merge into the park district as it prepares to move from its home in Shawnee into the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center, formerly the King Louie bowling alley on Metcalf Avenue near 91st Street.

“We’re working with (museum) staff to make the museum bigger and better than it’s ever been,” said park director Jill Geller.

Design plans for the building’s remodel still are being worked out. In the meantime, park and museum staff are brainstorming on what types of programs will be off ered at the new center.

Community theater performance and rehearsal space are among the top uses the county has planned for the site. But there will also be space for other activities. County residents at a recent open house offered a few ideas for how that space might be used.

Ideas for programming included a film festival, pottery, weaving, sculpture and other art and writing classes, poetry readings, big band and folk music, a literacy program and activities for adults with developmental disabilities.

The Meadowbrook plan is also moving forward, Geller said. Prairie Village recently approved tax increment financing to help pay for development. The country club site will eventually include townhomes and apartments as well as a park and community center.

Geller said she hopes to begin the master plan for the new park later this month or in October. The park is a blank slate so far, and some in the community have said they hope it will not become a highly developed park, she said.

Big Bull Creek and Rieke Lake parks are both large acquisitions in the more sparsely populated part of Johnson County. Development on Rieke Lake, which is 465 acres that includes a 30-acre lake west of De Soto and north of Kansas 10, will begin its first phase next year with trails, lake access and a playground, she said. Master planning on Big Bull Creek, 1,933 acres located in the southwest corner of Johnson County near Edgerton, will also get started this fall before any construction takes place.

One of the first changes county park-goers are likely to notice will be a new look at the main entrance to Shawnee Mission Park, Geller said. Building will start next month on a new police building/visitor area to replace the former trailer that now houses those functions.

Shawnee Mission Park is the county’s second oldest, dating to 1962. Antioch Park was the first to be dedicated, in 1958.

The park district added Theatre in the Park, the Ernie Miller Nature Center and Tomahawk Sports Dome in the 1980s. That decade voters also gave the go-ahead to the streamway park system.

Heritage Park and the Roeland Park Sports Dome were opened in the 1990s. The district’s most recent accomplishments, since 2010, include the Stilwell community park, New Century Fieldhouse, Mill Creek Activity Center and Camp Branch Glade.

Last year there were more than 7 million visits and 2.7 million program participations at Johnson County parks.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Turning 60, Johnson County park and recreation district has a productive year in the planning stages."