David Bowie Fans Sign Petition To Make Street Marker Named In His Honor Permanent

DOWNTOWN AUSTIN-UT, TX -- An admirer of late rock icon David Bowie has started a petition asking for an unofficially installed street sign named for him--erected under the cover of darkness by a fan after the singer’s death--be made a permanent fixture.

The street is actually named for another man sharing the surname, Alamo defender James Bowie. As the petition’s comments section makes clear, the name-change issue has become a battle of the Bowies.

“Austin is the music capital of the world, and we need more streets named after great musicians in downtown Austin,” wrote petition signer Mary Verhaeghe.

Her sentiments are a common theme in the petition, which had 6,000 supporters at last check.

But some comments are more pointed in bashing old Jim Bowie. While David Bowie is revered for his music, Jim Bowie is best known for his namesake knife, some petition signers noted.

“Austin’s street names should remind us of Heroes, not giant knives,” wrote Charlie Sotelo, referencing a David Bowie song while invoking visions of the Bowie knife, a long instrument with a double-edged blade at the point associated with the Alamo defender.

“David was a better influence on the world than Jim,” Mark O’Brien chimed in.

The petition was started by Christiane Swenson of Austin, who describes herself on the page as a high school student. On the page, she expressed surprise at the broad support her petition has received.

“Thanks so much everyone,” she wrote. “This is kind of crazy. I’m a high school student who made this during lunch break, and didn’t really expect it to blow up like this.”

But the petition signers are in a race against time. City officials allowed the sign to stand for a few days so fans could take pictures, but plan to take it down on Tuesday.

In trying to prevent that from happening, Swenson makes her case for keeping the makeshift “David Bowie” sign a permanent marker. The faux sign is located on the 300 block of Bowie Street downtown, at the intersection with Fifth Street.

In making her case, Swenson noted the existence of a nearby street honoring singer Willie Nelson and the presence of the headquarters of South by Southwest--organizers of a globally attended arts and music festival--just a stone’s throw away from the sign’s location.

“I believe that, in the same vein of Willie Nelson Boulevard, Austin should re-name Bowie Street to honor one of the most influential musicians of the last century,” Swenson wrote.

The sign was installed days after David Bowie’s death of cancer on Jan. 10. Last Friday, South by Southwest co-founder Roland Swenson publicly acknowledged as having been the marker’s installer, with the aid of sign maker Jason Carter.

Their brazen act in surreptitiously changing the sign undetected has earned them fans of their own, both within the city and ouside its boundaries. As word of the the bandit sign spread, David Bowie fans visited the site to take pictures for posterity.

Even Billboard magazine got into the act, calling Austin an “awesome city” for allowing the altered sign to stay intact, at least for a few days to allow fans to make their pilgrimage to the site.

Petition starter Swensons is the daughter of the man who told the world of his love of Bowie’s music. It’s clear father and daughter share an abiding affection for David Bowie and his music.

The moment of truth in this battle of the signs comes on Tuesday, when the city has scheduled to take the David Bowie sign down. But it’s clear that while many remember the Alamo defender for whom the street is named, they’d rather keep the substitute sign as a remembrance of their musical hero.

>> Photo by Tony Cantu