KDVS Sign Repurposing: rolling with the punches

sad kdvs sign
Originally uploaded by like radium

When I first moved in to my house, a giant upside-down KDVS billboard dwelled in the back patio. I liked it there, because it was good for blocking the autumn breeze when you were hanging out back there, and it served as a sturdy structure to lean your bike against.

Its original purpose, though, was a tad more grandiose. It was constructed with the intention of posting it next to Interstate 80, so passing drivers might take notice and tune in to some great, freeform non-commercial community radio. My roommate Elisa, who was at the time KDVS’ publicity director, told me the sad story of its ill-fated conception. According to her (if I remember this correctly), once all of the resources were collected and the manpower was organized, and they finally completed it, someone realized that the regulations for posting signs next to the freeway were such that they would not be allowed to erect it there, and they would expose the radio station to citations if they went ahead with their plan.

So the sign resigned to live upside-down in our patio for a while. Four heavy cement feet, originally made to prop the structure up, kept the sign company.

But Elisa is a creative one, and a good design thinker. She rolled with the punches. A few months after I moved in, when she decided to start hosting live music in our backyard, she gave the sign a new lease on life. We righted it, leaned it against the telephone pole near the back fence, and it served as a nice backdrop to performers. The four cement feet gladly lent themselves to the task of holding up a wooden platform in front of the sign, and we had ourselves a stage.