Mustang Way, a park designed by students in Tom Woodfin’s landscape architecture studio, took shape last spring with considerable manpower, plant donations and financial support provided by Keep Brazos Beautiful, the Bryan Rotary Club, the Milam-Jones Neighborhood Association and a host of volunteers.
The park was designed along a frequently traveled trail connecting two Bryan ISD elementary schools – Anson Jones and Ben Milam — with Henderson Park and Sharon’s Court, the city’s largest Habitat for Humanity neighborhood.
Prior to the project, the parkland, owned by the school district, was overgrown and strewn with trash. As a result of this collaborative effort, the old dirt trail crossing the lot is now a lighted, paved pathway meandering through what will become a beautifully landscaped garden including more than 50 new trees.

The site is 250 feet long by 50 feet wide. The design incorporates an eight-foot path curving through it with a tree planting design that will shade the path in the afternoons. The park is graded to ensure visibility from both ends for neighborhood surveillance. At the Beck Street entry is a giant, life-sized chessboard and there are two other chessboards in a small plaza in the middle of the park. The game boards were incorporated into the design because both Milam and Jones elementaries have champion chess clubs.

Comfortable benches and outdoor lighting similar to the historic light fixtures in downtown Bryan, will be installed along the pathway cutting through the park. The local neighborhood association is planning to plant a butterfly garden at the park’s Pecan Street.