cafetorasium - the everything room!

[SonicSchool]

I have built home theaters and large church/auditorium video systems in the past, but this is something else, for me. I'm looking to revamp the projection "systems" at a half-dozen local elementary schools. (by system i mean an 800 lumen projector on a folding table and a pull-up screen). the district wants something permanently installed, so they can host meetings, show videos at pep rallies, etc. All of the rooms are used for lunch, gym, and for presentations--it's basically an oversized basketball court with a stage off of one side.
So, because it's an "everything room", along with huge merc-vap lights that can't always be dimmed, i'm thinking about rear projection. mount the projector in a cage at about 10ft off the deck on the back wall, and put a motorized screen ~8-10ft away, in the middle of the stage, that can be tucked away out of sight (if not all the way to the ceiling).
I don't have a set budget, yet; they want recommendations. but, cheap is good. Is this a terrible idea? Would i be better off investing in glass and putting the projector on the back wall? I need the picture to be seen, of course, but i'm not overly concerned about razzle-dazzle--we're talking mostly Youtube videos and powerpoint.

Thanks for the help!

 

[microstar]

With basically uncontrollable lighting, rear projection would tend to be washed out more easily by light spill than front projection.

 

[robartsd]

You might look into ceiling mounting the projector in the hall (using a cage to protect it of course). Projecting from the other end of the room would require more expensive projector and lens system. You'll want a projector thats more aimed at business conferenece rooms than home theaters - the extra brightness will be helpful, high contrast ratios would be lost in that space. Careful planning of what inputs are availible and where they are located will be appreciated by the end users. Be sure that realistic maintenance plan (lamp changes and cleaning) are outlined in your recommendation proposal.

 

[ruinexplorer]

With basically uncontrollable lighting, rear projection would tend to be washed out more easily by light spill than front projection.

I disagree. With front projection, all light is returned towards the audience, lowering the contrast ratio (being washed out). By contrast (pun intented), a rear projection screen is built to allow light to pass through, which would allow the ambient light from the front to partially pass through the screen instead of reflecting back to the audience, allowing for a higher contrast ratio. Granted, if they are unable to control the light behind the screen (unlikely), then a rear screen option would not work. With front screen projection, you may be able to get an ambient light rejecting screen, like is used in boardrooms, which takes the light coming in from a high angle (like from ceiling lights) and reflects it back towards the same direction while lower angle lighting (designed for the projector to be at a lower angle) will send that light down to the audience.

I am assuming by the description of the space that this is basically a proscenium stage set into what would be one of the walls of a gymnasium. I assume that this means you don't really have a control booth, but every production requires a temporary set-up either on stage or out in the "house".