College Station City Council heard and was receptive to the idea of adding murals along State Highway 6 to honor the city and the area's heritage during the July 23 meeting.
The gist
Presented by Steve Beachy, former Director of the College Station Parks and Recreation Department, he said the idea of displaying College Station and Brazos Valley iconography would be similar to other cities in Texas, such as Lubbock, Houston and Kingsville. With the construction and millions of potential visitors on the highway, Beachy said the story of Bryan-College Station would shine on the roads.
“The idea is to use this 12-mile stretch of highway to sell this culture of this vibrant community to everyone that travels on it,” Beachy said.
Beachy also said using the Texas Department of Transportation and its guide signs would help generate more interest in the art and in learning about the cities.
“Travelers passing through will know that this is a special place,” Beachy said. “Tell our story, tell them who we are, tell them what we do.”
Manjit Yadav, a resident of College Station and marketing professor at Texas A&M University, said the inspiration for this idea came when he and Beachy were having a conversation about presenting the town to others about a year ago. He said he believes this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to showcase everything great about the community.
“The impressions of this community could go up to 120 million every day, and that’s a lot of impressions,” Yadav said. “This is what we study in the business school. Impressions and attention are probably one of the most scarce commodities in the world today.”
What the council is saying
Council member Scott Shafer, who also works in the parks and recreation department at Texas A&M, complimented the presentation and idea. He said more public art needs to be out there for people to see.
“If done right, I think it can create some really interesting visuals for the community,” Shafer said. “I think those mural ideas are especially unique and it would be interesting to look and see what could make us really stand out.”
Council member Melissa McIlhaney said she would be supportive of the idea and described it as a “multigenerational” opportunity, along with creating a committee to put ideas together. Council member David White echoed this statement and said the city has the funds to make it happen.
“I think we need to strike when the fire is hot, great idea,” White said.
Mayor John Nichols said he was receptive to the idea but also explained that it needs to evolve into something over the next few years before it goes further, along with collaborating with the city of Bryan.
“I want to figure out how to motivate it into a coherent planning group, and I’ll leave that to you, energizing people to help us think it through,” Nichols said.
The takeaway
The council did not take action, but endorsed the idea and looked forward to hearing more about the project and giving guidance in future meetings.
