Article By Myles Ackman and Kade Grierson
Two weeks ago—on September 22—city workers were seen across town extracting kiosk poles from the ground—the boards that you generally see around town crowded with posters—including one that previously stood outside China Star on South Clinton Street. People took to social media platforms such as Reddit to voice their concerns, with one post receiving 79 comments.
Although local events can be found online, not all are promoted digitally. Some communities and event organizers rely on flyer displays to reach Iowa City residents.
KRUI received the following response after reaching out to the city for comment.
“The City has been evaluating the condition of the downtown kiosks as part of ongoing maintenance of downtown streetscape amenities. During recent maintenance work, four poster kiosks along Iowa Avenue between Clinton and Linn streets were addressed. Two have been repaired and will remain in place, while two were found to be in poor condition and will be permanently removed. Parts from the removed kiosks were used to repair the remaining kiosks,” Public Information Officer Lee Hermiston said.
“The City also plans to remove the deteriorated wayfinding kiosk near Iowa Avenue and Clinton Street by Iowa Book. That kiosk has not functioned as a wayfinding tool for some time and has increasingly been used for posters.”
Hermiston said the City will continue inspecting and maintaining the remaining kiosks, and streetscape amenities will be taken into consideration as part of Iowa Avenue improvement planning—which is part of planning the reconstruction of Iowa Avenue from Clinton Street to Gilbert Street.
Some residents in Iowa City were concerned about the city’s choice to remove the kiosks.
“I think the sheer volume of posters that get stapled to those boards indicates that a lot of Iowa City residents see some value in them”
Said local resident Justin K. Coomer. Coomer runs a political podcast called the “Rock Hard Caucus” and is in several musical groups in Iowa City. He was also one of the first people on social media to publicly voice concern.
“I’ve always seen the boards’ presence as some small token of appreciation for all local bands, artists, businesses, student groups, etc.” Justin continued. “Their gradual removal suggests that someone making decisions for the city is out of touch with the culture that makes this an interesting place to live”.
Audio Narration: N/A | Visuals: Kade Grierson | Photography: Solomon Wong
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