Residents of this Overland Park neighborhood put teamwork into a ‘monumental’ effort

Brick and mortar can help build a lot of lasting things.

Houses, fireplaces and garden walls.

In the Beverly Estates neighborhood of Overland Park, brick and mortar have helped restore monument signs and enrich a sense of community and place.

Beverly Estates is an eight-square-block neighborhood of 409 homes located between Lamar and Nall, 83rd to 87th streets, built between the mid-1950s and early 1960s.

Like numerous Johnson County neighborhoods, Beverly Estates has entrance monument signs. Beverly Estates has 14 brick and metal monument signs along Nall Avenue and 83rd Street.

“They were well built in their day. But, cement erodes, paint fades, metal starts to rust. All that was happening for quite some time,” said Colette Panchot, chairwoman of the Beverly Estates Steering Committee.

“One was still standing despite being hit by a passing car and then repaired; others had moldy shaker shingle roofs, faded paint, crumbling cement; and all had unreadable metal lettering meant to identify the neighborhood.”

The Beverly Estates Steering Committee — which included members Aly Romero, Liz Graham, and Madeline Sloan — took on the sign project. The effort began simply enough with conversations at an ice cream truck event in the neighborhood in June 2021.

“A foresighted neighbor gave us our first, and what would be our largest donation, in a campaign that raised around $6,000 from 75 generous neighbors over 30 months,” Panchot said. “This first donor didn’t even have a sign at the end of his street, and he gave us hope that we could get this daunting project off the ground.”

Panchot and her family have lived in two homes in Beverly Estates over the last 24 years.

“We are invested in maintaining its curb appeal. We knew many other neighbors who felt the same,” she said.

Beverly Estates does not have a homeowners association, so all the money for the renovations had to be raised by private donation.

Panchot got a couple ofvprofessional bids for the work.

“But working with a contractor wasn’t feasible considering our modest neighborhood bank account balance,” she said.

Panchot worked with Alissa Workman, neighborhood programs coordinator for the city of Overland Park, to start mailing newsletters designed to raise money and recruit neighbors with the needed skills.

“Donations started coming in, and it was thrilling when seven neighbors volunteered to do the hard work of re-roofing the tall caps, painting the metal, repairing cement caps and welding the metal supports,” she said.

These volunteers included those with direct professional skills, such as a structural engineer and a painting contractor, and those with other professions: a pharmacist, an IT professional and a retired insurance executive.

“The work was done whenever there were enough donations to cover supplies, whose cost had skyrocketed since the pandemic,” Panchot said.

Stan Berry, a Beverly Estates resident for 30 years, was happy to lend a hand. Berry, an instrumentation designer in the engineering department of Bayer Corp., had experience. He had done repairs on the monument sign on his property.

“I have done carpentry work since I was a kid,” Berry said. “When you own a home you are fixing up things all the time.”

Everyone involved, Berry said, realized the two years of work by the volunteer group was what was needed.

“All members offered different skills,” Berry said. “We all came together as a team.

“Whenever you work with someone, you get to know them in a hurry. They are all great.”

The volunteers also included Rick Brown, Brian Curtis, Josh Engelbert, Mike McMahon, Steven Meyer and Rob Walton.

For the effort, the group was awarded the 2023 Beautification Award from the Overland Park Neighborhood Executive Committee.

Because Panchot is chairwoman of the Overland Park Neighborhood Executive Committee, she was aware of potential city resources. The project got a $1,500 grant for new gold-and-black lettered signs.

Panchot said a key step was securing legal permission from the neighbors in whose yards the signs were located. Twelve of the 14 neighbors gave their signed approval.

“We are hoping to complete the final two monuments at a later date, if permission is secured,” she said. “Enough money remains in the Beverly Estates’ budget to renovate one more sign.”

Panchot has advice for other neighborhoods considering such projects.

“Trust your neighbors that they care about the curb appeal of your neighborhood and seek them out,” she said. “I would not have gotten those neighbors without the newsletter.

“Don’t lose heart that the project won’t get done. Be patient with the project. It will eventually get done. And in the end everyone can enjoy it.”

Berry plans to enjoy his neighborhood, and his work, for a long time. He is also prepared for the inevitable wear and tear of time.

“We will probably do it again in another 20 or 30 years.”