Room to grow
The City of Escanaba's Public Works Department rehomes the dwarf hydrangea trees first bought for the municipality's main street by Enhance Escanaba in 2022. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
A seasonal employee of the City of Escanaba Department of Public Works carries a just-dug-up hydrangea bush from where it and others had been planted on the 10th block of Ludington during road construction. to a trailer that will relocate it to a permanent home nearer the main street. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
The City of Escanaba's Public Works Department rehomes the dwarf hydrangea trees first bought for the municipality's main street by Enhance Escanaba in 2022. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
A seasonal employee of the City of Escanaba Department of Public Works carries a just-dug-up hydrangea bush from where it and others had been planted on the 10th block of Ludington during road construction. to a trailer that will relocate it to a permanent home nearer the main street. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
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ESCANABA -- The hydrangea trees that had been removed from the streetscape to allow for major construction were replanted Wednesday in new homes.
In 2022, Enhance Escanaba -- a nonprofit group whose goal is to improve and beautify the seat of Delta County -- arranged the purchase and planting of 94 dwarf hydrangea trees alongside Ludington Street between Sixth and 15th Streets. Donors towards the project were Canadian National Railroad with America in Bloom, the City of Escanaba, the Escanaba Downtown Development Authority, Chenier's Greenhouse and the Community Foundation for Delta County.
When the time came just a couple years later for for major reconstruction on Escanaba’s main street to replace infrastrusture and incorporate a new design, the flowering plants had to be removed from the sidewalks of the thoroughfare. Some hydrangeas were moved in 2026 to the eastern end of the street, which had already undergone construction in 2025. Some bushes were replanted near the lift station, others in front of City Hall, and about two dozen were planted on the north side of the 200 block of Ludington Street -- across from where the House of Ludington had been.
The majority, however, were planted temporarily in the empty lot at 1007 Ludington St. formerly occupied by the East Ludington Gallery until the building became the third structure lost in a large fire in January 2024.
Though not all of the hydrangeas survived the transport, replanting and summer in an odd space, most did, said Enhance Escanaba President Karen Moore on Wednesday. The trees were dug up -- maybe for the last time -- and brought back to new spots on Ludington Street by the city’s Department of Public Works.
In the new design of Escanaba’s main drag, the dwarf hydrangea trees have been incorporated between 11th and 14th Street for now.
With such a long downtown in the little city, it wasn’t feasible to give all 23 blocks the same treatment -- so different areas have different fixtures.
“The different sections help to break up Ludington Street a bit,” said Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Director Craig Woerpel. “The goal was to provide continuity through the construction area while still providing unique elements in the different sections.”
Here’s an explanation of the layout, from the highway at the west to the lakeshore at the east:
The span from Stephenson Avenue to Lincoln Road was already done in its own fashion previously.
“It has different lighting, different traffic pattern and different Christmas decorations. We put 20 floral pots along that stretch during the past two years after the fires at the Stonehouse and Mo's. We need to make that more permanent somehow,” Woerpel said. “That traffic either turns at Stephenson or continues down Ludington Street. That is where the traffic narrows from four to two lanes. The goal is to slow traffic and make that stretch of the downtown more pedestrian and bike friendly.”
From 10th Street to Stephenson, there are (1) some hydrangeas and (2) a bike lane with a buffer zone between it and the parallel parking spots.
From Sixth Street to 10th Street, there are (1) maple trees, (2) a bike lane with no buffer zone for swinging car doors, (3) bike racks and benches and (4) sidewalk bump-outs.
East of Sixth Street are (1) large concrete planters of annuals, another Enhance Escanaba project; (2) a bike lane with no buffer zone; and (3) sidewalk bump-outs. As mentioned previously, some hydrangea are in this span as well, at the far eastern end.
Some city representatives and Enhance Escanaba hope to continue adding greenery to the downtown, including adding pole plants between Second and 12th Streets.
“Last year, we took some of the hanging flowers from the eastern end where there was construction and put them on every pole near the (upper elementary) school to see how that might look,” said Woerpel. “The response we got from people was tremendous. They started to notice the flowers compared to when they were only posted on the corners. Of course, that causes a dilemma because providing that much floral display is going to be very expensive. And it caused a watering problem in the busier sections of the downtown.”
While flowers at corners can be watered with a pickup truck, he explained, the mid-block ones require better access, so the DDA will be purchasing a side-by-side.
“There are other plans in the works as well,” Woerpel added, “signage being the big one.”