Converting church galleries

Rev. Graham of Aberdeen suggests converting church galleries for wider community use as restaurants, museums, creches, etc. 'In these days when the vast majority of church buildings lie empty most of the week, or are very sparingly used,' he writes, 'we believe that social innovation could take place by converting the galleries of these churches, largely unneeded for congregational purposes, into areas suitable for daily community use.' His church in Aberdeen now houses, amongst other community activities, a Family Museum about life in the Holy Land three thousand years ago.

He writes that creating level areas in galleries can be achieved by laying joists on the highest of the stepped areas, running them to the gallery edge, and covering them with chipboard. Safety is achieved by using old pew seats as timber to raise the gallery edge to the required 1.1m height.

Rev. A.D.M. Graham, 22 Osborne Place, Aberdeen AB2 4DA (tel 0224 648041).

You can rate how well you like this idea. Click 0-10 below and press the Submit button.
Bad Idea <- 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -> Great Idea
As of 05/28/96, 2 people have rated this page with the overall rating (0-100%) of: 70%

Previous / Next / Table of Contents