Historic “Military Walk” Set For Restoration
Military Walk, for decades a major focal point on the Texas A&M University campus – where thousands of Aggies, including scores of future generals and other top leaders, assembled daily – will be elegantly reconstructed, thanks to a multi-million-dollar former student gift that will fully fund the project.
The donor is Dan Hughes of Beeville, a 1951 graduate of Texas A&M and a former member of its Corps of Cadets.
Plans for the $4 million restoration project were presented Thursday (Jan. 22) by Texas A&M President Elsa Murano to The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.
“Restoration of Military Walk has long been the dream of many Aggies, and we are most grateful to Mr. Dan Hughes for so generously providing the financial resources to make this dream a reality.”
Hughes, who earned his degree in geology and has had a long and successful career in the oil and gas business, explained his reason for making his gift, “This project is important to recognizing the history of Texas A&M and the tradition of leadership of the Corps of Cadets.”
Military Walk, presently a 1,500-foot-long pedestrian greenway with a connection of sidewalks, links the north side Sbisa Dining Hall area to the Rudder/Memorial Student Center Complex in the heart of the campus serving the 48,000-member student body. It evolved from a dirt road in the early 1880s to a narrow paved street in the early 1900s to the current series of sidewalks laid in the 1970s.
Plans call for installing a combination of bricks and limestone pavers with historic markers and landscaping enhancements along the way.
Military Walk passes between several campus landmarks, including the stately Academic Building and the YMCA, once the center of student life and for which there are long-range plans for restoration.
