BonnerSprings.com

The Bonner Springs-Edwardsville area lost one of its most ardent supporters, friends of developer Tom Overby say.

Overby, 61, a Bonner Springs resident and head of the development group that sought to bring a tornado-themed tourist park to the Bonner Springs and Edwardsville area, was found dead June 8 in his business office of an accidental gunshot wound.

"I think the community has lost a wonderful asset, one of their greatest cheerleaders," said Stephanie Eickhoff, former mayor of Edwardsville and a friend of Tom and Diane Overby for seven or eight years. Eickhoff also officiated at their wedding.

"He was a very determined person who always saw the positive in things. Even with his project, even at the end of his rope he seemed to always find another avenue," Eickhoff said, referring to the setbacks endured by Overby's long-pursued project, the Kansas Landmark Tower park.

The plan envisioned a 650-foot-tall tower built to resemble a tornado, Dorothy's Farm, a retail and restaurant area and a museum. Total cost for the project was estimated at $244.4 million. Its most recent snag was the state's withdrawal of approval for $72 million in Sales Tax Accelerated Revenue bonds, though the Overby's development company, Avenue Area Inc., had succeeded in attracting millions of dollars of investment by firms such as AIG Edwards.

"He had the ability even to work with people that he wasn't quite fond of," said Eickhoff, "something I was always envious of as a politician."

Edwardsville City Council member Chuck Adams had known Overby for three years, largely as a result of the Landmark Tower project, whose last planned location was near

Adams' house, between Interstate 70 and Kansas Avenue, east of 110th Street.

"I found him to be an extremely visionary person who loved life and enjoyed life and was very good to those he cared about," Adams said.

Diane Overby said she would continue to work for the completion of the Kansas Landmark Tower in her husband's honor.

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