The renovated city Planty was equipped with around forty elegant plaques, which had stood empty since last year. Residents therefore put them to use as free advertising spaces. They began sticking all kinds of service advertisements on them, without any order or consistency. They offered help filling out tax returns, sewing-machine repairs, the sale and rental of flats, renovation services, private tutoring, and leech application and ear candling. Entrepreneurs who could afford an elegant poster also joined this hodgepodge of advertisements. Transport companies and a large shop advertised in this way. One of the banks even presented its services on a free plaque.
As it turned out, the plaques had been installed on Planty for an entirely different purpose. They are meant to serve as a kind of guide to the city and its historic district.
– Each plaque is intended for a short piece of tourist, historical or botanical information. The information is currently being prepared. The Department of City Development and Promotion will put it up before the start of the holiday season, Agnieszka Gergont, the city spokesperson, said.
The department head specifies that the information will be placed on the plaques in June this year. “Once we have prepared the information texts, a company will be hired to clean the plaques of the notices. It will then permanently install boards with a city map, information about interesting trees, and historical events and attractions associated with the particular location,” says Tomasz Gabrysiak.
The residents’ quick use of the empty information plaques on Planty shows several things. First, it demonstrates the resourcefulness of the people of Bolesławiec, who used an attractive location to advertise their services. Second, it shows the strong demand for free space for notices. And unfortunately, third, it reveals a complete lack of awareness that the notices disfigure the city’s renovated and representative thoroughfare.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)