New Bulletin Boards Arrive in Burlington!

The Big Heavy World crew has been advocating for new public bulletin boards in downtown Burlington for a very long time. We’ve spoken at many public meetings as the city explored new street designs and created a standardized ‘vocabulary’ of amenities; we’ve  met with city staff at CEDO, Public Works, and had conversations with the mayor, all over a period of ten or so years. It gives us a lot of joy to report that our arguments were heard, and the city has begun building new public bulletin boards into its streetscapes. The first just appeared this week on St. Paul Street, and more will pop up on Bank Street, Cherry Street, and City Hall Park in the future as those projects advance.

This first bulletin board isn’t just a resource that’s accessible to all musicians; it’s a symbol of how positive it can be to persevere with a respectful conversation with the decision makers in city government. Although there was resistance to uncurated public bulletin boards, and even design missteps by the city’s contractors, ultimately everyone paid attention to what was really important and the outcome was a whole new era of fresh resources for our creative community. Big Heavy sends ‘Thanks!’ to the city councilors, mayor, and department staff who had open minds and cared enough to make productive decisions, and to all our local musicians who stepped in to add their support and wisdom to the cause.