GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Try not to miss the trolley in this miniature version of furniture city, a LEGO replica of 1920s-era Grand Rapids currently on display at the city's public museum.
"People ask us, 'Do you work for LEGO?' I don't work for them, but I send them a good chunk of my paycheck," said Larry Pieniazek, one of the builders.
In 2014, Pieniazek and other members from the Western Michigan LEGO Users Club debuted the diminutive downtown, complete with operating streetcars.
"Those were kind of the foundation," Pieniazek said about the cars, whose colors resemble two rival railway companies from that time period.
Following the city's first edition, the builders made yearly additions, including the Blue and Pearl Street Bridges, which stretch across the 18,000 blue bricks that make up the Grand River.
"It's really tough to do curves with straight pieces," Pieniazek said about arches on the Pearl Street Bridge. "There's actually quite a bit of fakery inside there."
In order to piece together a period-appropriate portrait of Grand Rapids— specifically set in 1926— Pieniazek and company practiced selective compression, a model railroading term that refers to the removal of repetitive, unnecessary elements— including windows, street lanes, and seats in a car— for the sake of time and space.
For example, the real-life McKay Tower— under construction in the 1920s in an attempt to become the tallest building in the city— contains more windows than its replica.
But Pieniazek says it doesn't really matter; the slightly compressed model still looks like the real deal.
"Everybody comes away saying, 'Yep, that's the 1920s."
The same principle remains true for the trademark-averse 'Studweiser Wagon,' which is short two Clydesdale horses.
"But everybody looks at it and goes, 'Oh, that's the Budweiser Wagon," Pieniazek said. "We got away with it."
If 'getting away with it' means leaving out a pair of ponies in a sprawling, minifigure-filled city, then yes, the LEGO Users Club got away with it. They also built a crystal clear replica of historic Grand Rapids, furnished with the old city hall (and its austere, Gothic architecture), the towering Hoffman Flats and Morton Hotel (which still stand today), the Meyer May House (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright), and many more buildings and tiny homages to Furniture City's rich history.
While Pienazek doesn't know how many bricks went into the display, he estimates it could be a million.
"That is probably the number one question that we always get asked," Pieniazek said. "The answer is we have no friggin' idea."
The historic LEGO replica will continued to be displayed at the Grand Rapids Public Museum through January 5 and will return in Fall 2024.
