City Of Post Falls: Decking The Halls With Recyclables - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

POST FALLS, Idaho – The City of Post Falls is getting into the holiday spirit by putting up some very unique decorations: old bike racks and parks & rec signs.

But you'd never know it.

"The first prototype took a little bit of time, we made some mistakes, and it didn't look quite right," said Post Falls Parks & Recreation Director Dave Fair. "But once we had a pattern it went pretty quick."

While most of us are out buying decorations this season, like most cities, Post Falls has dealt with a dramatically shrinking budget, and the money simply wasn't there.

But that's not stopping them.

Parks & Rec staff came up with the idea to take the old signs and bike racks and transform them into something new and festive: snowflakes that were attached to light poles surrounding the City Hall campus.

"They bent them, bolted them together, then added garland and lights," Fair added.

Plus, local businesses donated $1,000 to help purchase more lights.

And the green idea is saving some green as well.

"We priced these out, and they average $350 apiece," Fair said, meaning the city saved $3,500 dollars on the snowflakes alone.

And now, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. With 12,000 lights, 10 snowflakes, all that's missing is the partridge in a pear tree.

The city's tree lighting ceremony will begin at 6pm this Friday.