Lake Olathe Park is a 378-acre regional park in the city of Olathe, Kansas with rolling topography, limestone escarpments, large mature trees and contains a 170-acre lake. Formerly a golf course and until 2005 a primary water source for the city, this site was transformed into a signature recreation destination in a four year, $20.4-million-dollar project led by a multi-disciplinary team including landscape architecture firm Confluence that culminated in 2019. The vision for the park was initially established by Confluence as part of the City of Olathe's Comprehensive Parks Master Plan in 2013. The park improvements turned Lake Olathe into a signature destination for the city, drawing residents and visitors to the site for festivals and gatherings, providing opportunities for year-round meetings and events and energizing the lake edge with activity. Incorporation of inclusive nature play elements at the signature playground and splash pad create opportunities for day long family visits. The reimagination of this golf course into the city's destination park facility now provides amenities to the City of Olathe that were previously unavailable in one place in the Kansas City region.

 
The new park features include Eagles Landing, a year-round special event venue whose name was derived from the family of bald eagles nesting along the lake. The Beach House and Marina that includes an inflatable obstacle course sits adjacent to the Great Lawn, a lakefront amphitheater that holds 4,000 visitors for special events. Meandering through the park is an 1,800 linear foot water feature which is fed by lake water. The feature begins at the highpoint of the park in a formal lawn space utilized for weddings and other gatherings, and falls over 80-feet as it transitions from a formal water feature to a natural, stone runnel and returns to the lake. The runnel drops 14-feet from an upper pond to a natural runnel and flows through the botanic garden and two water play areas. Park visitors can enjoy splashing in water that shoots from large boulders which have been cored to allow a water experience in different ways. The splash pad area also includes a sand play area and musical instruments appealing to visitors of all ages and abilities. The park includes new restrooms, a fishing pavilion, disk golf and over four miles of trails that connect Lake Olathe Park to the Confluence designed Cedar Niles Park to the north, and the 2.5-mile trail connector on the south through a series of boardwalks over the forebays that eventually lead to Cedar Lake Park. Roadways through the park were realigned to pull them away from the lake edge and allow for an uninterrupted pedestrian experience while minimizing impact to the existing park.

The plan incorporates numerous sustainability improvements designed to preserve, protect and improve the water quality of the lake for years to come. One of the primary sustainability features includes a series of forebays allowing incoming stormwater to Lake Olathe to be filtered before entering the main body of the lake. Confluence took great care in maintaining important site features such as view sheds, drainage ways and existing trees. Through careful consideration of topography, the team carefully integrated building structures, drives and parking, trails and other amenities to maintain the essence of the sites. Consideration was made by the design team to utilize common materials, patterning and colors throughout the project. This is seen in the patterning of the stonework on entry monuments, walls and building fa????ade carrying throughout the project. The park was designed to create a harmonious relationship between the natural and built environments.

The built product is a result of extensive collaboration between the design team over the four year visioning process from master plan through construction. The rolling topography, lack of existing infrastructure and the federal permitting process all posed challenges throughout the design phases. As a result, 40 days of rock blasting were necessary to drop grades around the beach area almost 18' in the deepest cuts to allow for accessible parking and entry to the beach area, Eagles Landing and Event Lawn. In addition to local permits, federal permits were required to allow for the installation of forebays and islands to provide trail connections across portions of the lake.

Since its opening in the summer of 2019, Lake Olathe has become one of the most visited parks in the state of Kansas. Future activities planned for the park include 4th of July celebrations, Friday night concert series, movie nights, races and triathlons, weddings, corporate gatherings and family reunions among others. Through the master planning process, future phases of development have been identified by the design team with additional amenities including a sledding pavilion, additional special events pavilion and dog park area.

As seen in LASN magazine, March 2021.