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Willkommen to Frankenmuth?EUR??,,????'??+?EUR??,,????'??Michigan?EUR??,,????'???s Little Bavaria?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+the state?EUR??,,????'???s number one tourist attraction, draws three million visitors a year to its shopping (A-Maze-N Mirrors to Zeilinger Wool Company), dining (Bavarian Inn Restaurant to Willi?EUR??,,????'???s Sausage Company) and entertainment (the Cinema Hollywood to Michigan?EUR??,,????'???s Own Military & Space Museum).
It?EUR??,,????'???s time to dust off the lederhosen and head to the ?EUR??,,????'??world?EUR??,,????'???s largest Christmas store,?EUR??,,????'?? home to ?EUR??,,????'??world-famous?EUR??,,????'?? chicken dinners, and numerous festivities, including Autofest, Oktoberfest, and, as you read this, the nine-day Summer Music Fest. Music Fest is a time for polka music (perhaps you didn?EUR??,,????'???t know there was a time for polka) and other old-world musical stylings from Poland, Germany and Solvenian. And to fortify the music lovers, Bavarian food?EUR??,,????'??+ meat, meat and more meat, with the occasional boiled vegetable slathered in butter and salt. Try the Weisswurst (white veal sausage eaten with a pretzel?EUR??,,????'??+Ja, pretzel, or bread and sweat mustard. Don?EUR??,,????'???t pass up the Leberk?????se (liver cheese), Schweinebraten mit Kn??del (roast pork with dumpling), Rippchen (spare ribs), Schweinshax?EUR??,,????'???n (pork knuckles?EUR??,,????'??+perhaps you can forgo that, and, of course, the gas-inducing topper, sauerkraut, all washed down with a cold Paulaner, Spaten or L??wenbr?????u and a little Apfel strudel for dessert.
But wait, that?EUR??,,????'???s not all there is to Music Fest: The Hot Rods, no, that?EUR??,,????'???s not right, the Mag Wheels, no, that?EUR??,,????'???s not it either ?EUR??,,????'??? ah, the Hubcaps, yes, the Hubcaps will be on hand to offset the polka music with rock renderings from the ?EUR??,,????'??50s and ?EUR??,,????'??60s.
If you?EUR??,,????'???ve ever listened to Garrison Keillor?EUR??,,????'???s stories on ?EUR??,,????'??Prairie Home Companion?EUR??,,????'?? about growing up Lutheran, you?EUR??,,????'???ll know that Frankenmuth wasn?EUR??,,????'???t Frankenmuth (continued from page 60) always so festive. It began as a missionary settlement of Bavarian Lutherans led by Rev. Friedrich August Craemer in 1847. The name derives from the Franconia region of Bavaria; the ?EUR??,,????'??muth?EUR??,,????'?? means ?EUR??,,????'??courage?EUR??,,????'?? in German. Frankenmuth, in case you?EUR??,,????'???re driving, is one of the four primary cities in Saginaw County, the others being Birch Run, Chesaning, and Saginaw (from hence hitchhiked Paul Simon in his poignant song ?EUR??,,????'??America?EUR??,,????'??).
Accentuating Frankenmuth?EUR??,,????'???s Bavarian influence is the two storied glockenspiel clock that intones six times daily, and the Herbert Keinath Memorial Fountain and Sculpture, which depicts five life-sized Bavarian children in traditional costumes circling about a maypole and accompanied by a hund, that?EUR??,,????'???s dog to you.
Back in 1999, the city fathers saw the need to renovate the hardscapes and landscaping. When you?EUR??,,????'???re the state?EUR??,,????'???s top attraction, the motivation is there. Enter M. C. Smith Associates and Architectural Group, Inc. (MCSA), of East Grand Rapids, Michigan, retained by the city to develop master Frankenmuth (continued from page 62) plans, construction documents and construction administration services for multiple phase streetscape improvements. The MCSA Group is an award-winning professional design firm formed in 1977 by Michael C. Smith. Mr. Smith is president; Donald Smalligan and James DeWilde are vice presidents. The firm has a staff of over 20, including architects and landscape architects.
How to you proceed with such a project? We asked M.C. Smith. He acknowledged the usual design workshops and town meetings to develop the master plans. One clearly wasn?EUR??,,????'???t going to stray far from Frankenmuth?EUR??,,????'???s Bavarian heritage, nor impede the community?EUR??,,????'???s identity with Christmas and gift giving.
?EUR??,,????'??The design vocabulary for this streetscape project, while avoiding a cute Bavarian theme, relied on traditional materials, paving patterns and elements which would be appropriate with the variety of thematic commercial architecture,?EUR??,,????'?? Mr. Smith explained. He noted that visitors who regularly visit Frankenmuth expect to see displays of annual flowers. ?EUR??,,????'??The various streetscape phases all relied heavily on seasonal plantings. A variety of custom-designed street and pedestrian scale lighting was integral to developing a cohesive and consistent visual tie throughout the entire shopping district.?EUR??,,????'??
The major challenge for this project was building a design consensus. The city personnel and the many business owners had, naturally, varying opinions. The other challenges were working with and around the existing infrastructure, utilities and site conditions, including the grades and buildings.
Fortunately, MCSA had the design experience and skills to point the parties in the right direction. The master planning incorporates custom single and double-fixtures atop pole lighting; modular paver walks and crosswalks; mast-arm traffic signals; poles, arches and rails; decorative screen walls; site amenities (benches, tree grates, receptacles); deciduous canopy trees; and ornamental plantings.
The project is now in its fifth phase, Paul Reinhold told LASN. This phase involves street lighting, paving accents and boulevard islands for Weiss Street, a side street that is looking to boost its commercial possibilities. Mr. Reihhold joined MCSA in 1999, about the time work began on the Frankenmuth project. He has been responsible for the construction administration and documentation.
The design results, seen in this layout, speak for themselves. It is sure to keep Frankenmuth the number one destination in Michigan for a long time.
Unilock, Brighton, MI Series 3000 Architectural Pavers 6x6 and 12x12 Huron Rose 6x6 and 12x12 Coral Gem
Hanover Architectural Products, Hanover PA Traditional Series with Tudor Finish 6x6 and 12x12 #B91765 6x6 #B91766 6x6 #B92455
Glen-Gery Brick, 4x8 Cocoa 4x8 Old Smokie
Architectural Art Stone, Kansas City, MO cast stone wall caps custom design by MCSA, color: 5th
Stone Products Corporation, Napa, CA faux stone wall veneer?EUR??,,????'??+cultured stone Buckeye Limestone Superior Great lakes
Natural Stone Limestone base: Indiana Oolitic
Landscape Forms, Kalamazoo, MI benches 6' Plainwell with wood slats
Victor Stanley, Dunkirk, Maryland litter receptacles Model S-42 Ironsites 36 gallon
FairWeather Site Furnishings, Port Orchard, WA tree grates 48" square: STA-48 tree planters custom design by MCSA
Architectural Area Lighting, Inc., La Mirada, CA 14' fluted pole with single fixture, custom design by MCSA 16' fluted pole with twin fixture, custom design by MCSA
Union Metal Corporation, Canton, OH 26' tapered octa-flute steel pole
Kim Lighting Inc., City of Industry, CA fixture: Archetype AR
Spring City Electrical Manufacturing Co., Spring City, PA 14' fluted steel pole: SBHB18-W with EFHB luminare
Trees
Shrubs
Perennials
M. C. Smith Associates and Architectural Group, Inc. is an award-winning professional design firm formed in March 1977 by the firm's president, Michael Smith. Vice presidents are Donald Smalligan and James DeWilde. The firm has a staff of over 15 in the East Grand Rapids office.
MCSA provides professional services in:
MCSA also has consultants for specialized portions of specific projects, which extends its capabilities to traffic engineering, surveying, soils analysis and structural design; and mechanical and electrical engineering.
Michael C. Smith principal and president M. C. Smith Associates and Architectural Group, Inc. Education: Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, M.L.A., 1974 Michigan State University, B.S.L.A., 1972 Professional Experience: M. C. Smith, 1977 to date Miller, Wihry & Lee, Inc., firm senior associate and director of landscape architecture, Louisville, Kentucky, 1974-1977 Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Associates, Inc., Watertown Mass., 1973?EUR??,,????'???1974 Grand Rapids Park Department Design Office, summers, 1971, 1972 Grand Rapids Planning Department, summer, 1970 Professional and Civic Activities: Member, American Society of Landscape Architects Registered Landscape Architect, State of Michigan Visiting Lecturer, Michigan State University, Member, Michigan Recreation and Park Association
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
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