Brenham Family Park Opens With a Pond and a Lit Mile of Trail. The Playground Comes Later.

The fences are up and concrete is being poured south of Brenham Crossing. What will actually be open on South Chappell Hill Street once the city cuts the ribbon at Brenham Family Park?

The first phase is a 32-acre park built around a pond and a lit trail. The features most families picture when they hear "family park" are the inclusive playground, the pavilion and the fishing pier. Those are coming, but they're being paid for differently and will arrive on their own schedule. That shapes what a first visit this winter will look like.

What the First Phase Contains

When the Brenham City Council awarded the construction contract to MBC Management, the Brenham Banner-Press reported the vote was unanimous. The paper also laid out the Phase 1 scope:

• An amenity pond of roughly three to 3.5 acres
• A one-mile walking and biking trail, 10 feet wide, with lighting
• A pedestrian bridge
• Wildflower areas
• Parking for 32 vehicles
• A restroom facility

Council also approved an add-on to the contract that stripes separate lanes on the trail so walkers and cyclists each have their own side. On a one-mile loop, that may matter more than it sounds. Joggers, strollers and bikes will share the same 10 feet of concrete.

The rendering shown at the groundbreaking, now posted on the City of Brenham's Brenham Family Park page, lists seven numbered features. The wildflower ground is labeled specifically as a "Bluebonnet/Wildflower Seeding field." The pond is drawn as a forebay pond, and an existing maintenance bridge sits beside the new pedestrian bridge.

At the May 12 groundbreaking, Mayor Atwood Kenjura told KWHI the park was "a win-win for the City of Brenham and the residents." He said he was especially looking forward to the pond, which he called unique among all Brenham parks. Brenham's other parks have sports fields, the skate park, the splash pad, courts and the amphitheater at Hohlt Park. None of them is built around open water. The city's FY2026–27 budget lists those amenities across nine parks.

Why the Playground Is on a Different Clock

The $4.13 million Phase 1 contract has three funding sources, according to the Banner-Press:

None of that money buys a playground. At the contract vote, Public Works Director Dane Rau said more features could be added later, including a possible donor-funded playground. By the groundbreaking, that "possible" had a name behind it. KWHI reported that a donation from the Betts family, made on behalf of longtime parks advocate Bill Betts, will fund an inclusive playground area.

By July the list had grown. Rau told city council that the city had received several major contributions for extra features. KWHI reported that these included the inclusive playground area, a pavilion, a fishing pier and possibly a boardwalk at the pond. The city's adopted FY2026–27 budget covers both completing Phase 1 and spending tied to a donation for a park play area.

Put together, the park comes in two layers. The contract layer covers the pond, trail, bridge, wildflowers, parking and restroom, and that's the work crews are finishing now. The donor layer covers the playground, pavilion, fishing pier and maybe a boardwalk, and it builds on that base. The fishing pier and boardwalk only make sense once the pond is there. The sources don't give a completion date for the donor layer.

Where Construction Stood as October Began

An earlier Banner-Press construction update covered the groundwork. Crews had cleared brush for 10-foot and 16-foot trail paths, finished survey staking for light poles, trenched for trail power, and placed a 24-inch reinforced concrete pipe for the pond outfall. The next steps were pouring the first trail sections and forming foundations for the pedestrian bridge.

The Banner-Press's later roundup of city infrastructure projects moved that forward. The water line along South Chappell Hill Street is complete, and two sections of the new 10-foot concrete trail have been poured. The same update noted that work on the Henderson Park basketball pavilion was scheduled to start Oct. 5. That means two city parks have crews on site this fall.

In July, Rau told council that "large strides" had been made on the pond and parking area. He gave that update after the monthly progress meeting with project engineer Quiddity Engineering and contractor MBC Management, as KWHI reported.

The Disc Golf Course in the Middle of It

If you play disc golf in Brenham, you already know this one. The 18-hole course is on this same land, and the city closed it starting May 4, 2026, while the park is under construction. The city's park page still calls the site "Future Park Land" and lists the course as its only current feature, along with hole-by-hole videos.

The plans keep disc golf in the picture. KWHI's groundbreaking coverage listed disc golf among the initial park features. The adopted budget also names a disc golf course in Phase 1, along with the pond, the lit one-mile hike and bike trail, the pedestrian bridge and the wildflower areas. The city hasn't posted a reopening date for the course on its park page. Watch that page for one.

Three Ways the City Has Described "Done"

No ribbon-cutting date has been announced yet. The city has described the finish line in slightly different terms depending on where you look:

All three point to the end of 2026, and all three are targets, not booked dates. When the contract was approved, officials said construction would take about a year and that good weather could speed it up. The May groundbreaking turned that into a seven-month goal. With the trail pour now underway, a holiday-season opening is still the stated plan.

Thirteen Years From Handshake to Concrete

This park has been slow, and the timeline on the city's own page shows why:

1. November 2013: City council discusses accepting the land for future park use.
2. December 18, 2013: Blue Bell Creameries Chairman Ed Kruse and his wife Evelyn sign over roughly 100 acres to the City of Brenham.
3. 2017: Funding and design discussions come before the Brenham Community Development Corporation.
4. 2023: The city completes a Small Area Plan for the land around the park and an Environmental Assessment.
5. May 12, 2026: Ground breaks on Phase 1.

The city's park page also explains why the land is usable now. The tract sits on the south side of town, and it becomes accessible because of the US 290 improvements, especially the new overpass at Chappell Hill Street. Rau said the design drew on community feedback and the priorities in the city's 2020 Parks Master Plan.

Phase 1 is only 32 of the roughly 100 acres. The Banner-Press described the contract vote as ending a 26-year gap since Brenham last opened a new park. The park opening this winter will be the first public park Brenham has added in more than two decades. It uses about a third of the land the Kruses gave the city. The donor-funded playground, pavilion and fishing pier will be the next things built on it.

When the ribbon-cutting date is announced, the City of Brenham's Brenham Family Park page is the place to check. For park questions in the meantime, Park Central is at 979-337-7250, and the parks office is at 1800 E. Tom Green St.

If you'd like to talk through what a new park on the south side of Brenham could mean for your street or for a move you're considering in Washington County, I'm happy to walk through it with you. Reach out to Lamanda Jatzlau, and let's connect.