ACCORDING TO the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties — the main standard for the preservation and protection of historic objects — “all replacement or alterations should be documented with description, pictorial and physical evidence.”
As noted elsewhere on this blog, the sanctuary’s theater seats are among Mishkon’s “historic objects.” Below the jump, this post documents a recent change in our treatment of the theater seats.
BY MID-2022, more than 2 years into the covid-19 pandemic, it became evident that due to pandemic-induced changes in society’s functioning, two things were no longer likely in the foreseeable future:
- resumption of congregating in the downstairs (and poorly ventilated) Social Hall; and
- filling all of the sanctuary’s 700+ seats.
The synagogue found itself with a need for a relatively well-ventilated space in which people could congregate freely, such as for Kiddush Lunch after worship services. And it found that having a hall full of fixed seats was no longer productive.
Combining those two considerations, it was proposed that some rows of seats be removed from the back of the sanctuary, to make room for other activities to take place there.
The president consulted B&G, which checked with our asbestos inspector, who opined that the theater seats could be removed safely if certain precautions were followed. The president also consulted staff and the executive committee, before directing that about 100 seats be removed from the back of the sanctuary.
Ruben detached those seats and brought them down to the Social Hall, where they are currently stashed in front of the stage. (My suggestion was that the seats be reassembled in rows facing the stage, while taking steps to protect the floor from being scratched. It is not yet clear whether this task will be undertaken.)
In the process, about 15 seat bottoms were deemed to be in poor condition and thrown away.
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