Tushy Testing
There are a number of chairs in the social hall to have people test. These are just samples so don’t get excited, but we hope to be able to gauge what people like and then make adjustments. ALL THE CHAIRS WILL HAVE SOME SORT OF BOOK STORAGE. Don’t panic if the ones you see don’t have book storage – because the sales reps dropped off examples – the final chair will definitely have book storage.
Currently the committee is thinking of having some percentage of the flexible seats with arms and a larger percentage without arms, but this is still under discussion. The fixed seats will be pew style (an upholstered bench).
I have a fixed seating manufacturer to recommend. This is the link to their website:
http://sauderworship.com/products/pews/index.html?homepageimage
The following key features come are highly praised by frequent pew-sitters at services at Temple Emunah in Lexington:
- the seating pads (upholstery) “define” a logical seat width but do not impose it. There are no fixed arms between the seats. People can scrunch over, sit more closely together to “fit in one more” if they choose.
- the seating is reportedly very comfortable, especially because the backrest, not just the seat, is padded
- these pews are QUIET — no thump thump thump for 30 seconds as people stand up (since no seat to raise) when the ark is opened
It would be important to install the pews with enough space between them that a person in the middle of the row could stand up to exit the row without others near
the edge having to stand up. This is another reason the pews are quiet: a person exiting the service from mid-row when others are seated would cause much less
disruption than occurs in our current setup.
I was informed that this manufacturer, Sauder, equips mainly churches, so please don’t be put off by that (if their website seems slanted that way). I hope someone from the committee will go see, sit in, and consider the pews at Emunah.
Jodi Greenspan
June 20, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Jodi-
We are currently talking to three manufacturers of pews (Sauder included). All of them are fully uphostered, tush and back. We will have an arm rest in some locations BUT not at every seat.
The spacing will be wider than is currently.
We have had sample pews from Sauder, New Holland and Kivitz.
mwolfson
June 27, 2008 at 7:31 pm