Church wants to Baptize in my theater

[gafftaper]

I have a church that rents my theater every week. They want to do a Baptism on stage. This church is my most important renter and I want to find a way to make it possible for them to do this without damaging my floor.

Their plan is to head out to a farm supply store and purchase a giant 400 gallon water tank (67" diameter) and cut the top off. My floor is sprung with a top layer of Masonite. The previous theater manager nearly ruined the floor by moping it and leaving too much water on it. It bubbled up along all the seams and district maintenance guys had to sand the floor down along the seams in order to repair it. The theater's only three years old so there isn't a thick layer of paint to protect the floor like many of you have. My concern is not that the basin itself will leak or break. It's that a plastic container that large could sweat and I could have condensation trapped under it damaging the floor for hours. I did a modern dance show with a rain rig a few years ago. We put down a brand new tarp but there was water under the tarp every night, we believe because of the condensation.

I'm thinking about allowing them to do it if they buy a 10x15 pond liner, and build a rectangular retention pond for their large tank to sit in. I'm thinking this would prevent a catastrophic spill, contain the drips as they climb in and out, and it would be a barrier against condensation under the tank.

Thoughts?

 

[stoccoj]

We encountered the same situation with the church that rents our space a couple years back. When it came down to it, facilities and the schools insurance policy did not allow them to setup a baptism pool onstage. So, since it was taking place in February in Minnesota, they rented a tent and the biggest hot tub they could find and did the baptisms outside while simulcasting it into the theater so that the audience could see/hear what was going on. It was an interesting solution to the problem, that's for sure.

As for your situation, your solution does seem sound though if it were me, I'd be nervous the entire time it was setup.

 

[gafftaper]

The Church actually initially wanted to do it out on the patio in front of the school. But the feeling is that is a public area out there, we can't rent it out, and we would potentially get in big trouble for allowing religious activities out there. So instead of just dumping it on the grass when we are done, we are talking about an elaborate scheme to put it in the theater.

 

[Scarrgo]

We have done several in our space, they have a small pool that they use, its about chest deep...

Most of the time they set it up in the shop, if its onstage, we put the dance floor down.

It serves 2 purposes, keeps the wood dry, and washes our marley...

Sean...

 

[Kelite]

I think your approach is a wise one, gafftaper. A small 'retention pond' built around the baptismal tank would allow safe, convenient use and (if purchased by the church) could go with them to other venues as needed too.

Looks like a win-win to me!

 

[Jay Ashworth]

I think the possibility of condensation problems depends a lot on what they're using to keep the baptismal water *in*; have you seen it yet? Does it actually put contained water in contact with the floor under it? Or, as with a hot tub, is it molded, and that's not a problem?

 

[ptero]

Have you considered the weight of the tank of water? Just thinking about the few stage collapses that have occurred recently.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Any chance they could do it between first row and stage, which is often concrete?

 

[gafftaper]

We have come up with another location solution of an enclosed courtyard. So my stage floor is no longer in jeopardy! Thanks for the help.

Now it's up to Risk Management to see if they will be allowed to do it at all. It's always some sort of legal thing!

 

[len]

Thoughts?

Weight? How long will it take to fill up whatever the water is in? How do they get the water out after? Is it your water? Cost of water? Extra liability? Will they cover the extra insurance this may cost? What if someone gets injured?

 

[MarshallPope]

Convince them to change theology and sprinkle?

 

[FatherMurphy]

A few thoughts, even though the situation is already resolved -

Condensation will only occur when the water is colder than the air temperature. If the tub is heated, or at least filled with warm water, condensation should be negligible. A tank of cold water sitting directly on a floor covering will chill the covering, and can draw and collect any moisture present in the floor, or can chill the floor so that it condenses moisture itself as soon as the tank is removed. If you're really worried about condensation, put some sort of insulation or air gap between the tank and the floor.

Weight - 400 gallons will be around 3200 lbs, you didn't say what your footprint might be. If your deck was rated at 250 psf, that would be 12.8 sq ft (+/- 4' diameter), 125 psf would be 25.6 sq ft (+/- 6' diameter) for minimum footprints. Not counting the weight of the baptiser and baptisee.

It's one thing to worry about the tank, but what about the recently dunked guy getting out of it? Where does he dry off, and how much water does he slosh over the side getting in and out?

Separation of church and state (or school) - so, it's ok to do religious things in a rented theater, but not a rented patio? Does the school not own the patio? If Little League wanted to rent the ball field, would they be turned down because it's not inside?

 

[TheaterEd]

A few thoughts, even though the situation is already resolved -


Separation of church and state (or school) - so, it's ok to do religious things in a rented theater, but not a rented patio? Does the school not own the patio? If Little League wanted to rent the ball field, would they be turned down because it's not inside?

From a facility scheduler perspective, if no one has ever tried to rent the patio in the past, they would have to come up with a fee structure for it which would probably require school board approval which if your lucky would only take a month to make happen. It is also possible that while the school owns the building, the city owns the land and the fields on it. Jurisdictions vary quite a bit from city to city.

That being said, I don't believe separation of church and state would apply here since the church would be a paying renter. As long as the church isn't trying to baptize the students on their way out the door, they should be treated like any other non-profit.

 

[lwinters630]

There are companies that rent baptismal. A drip area and towels as people exit and Absorbant track off Matts. Our church uses this all the time on wood stage.

As for legal, if you rent to all types of groups then you are fine. If you discriminate you may violate free speech.

 

[gafftaper]

From a facility scheduler perspective, if no one has ever tried to rent the patio in the past, they would have to come up with a fee structure for it which would probably require school board approval which if your lucky would only take a month to make happen. It is also possible that while the school owns the building, the city owns the land and the fields on it. Jurisdictions vary quite a bit from city to city.

That being said, I don't believe separation of church and state would apply here since the church would be a paying renter. As long as the church isn't trying to baptize the students on their way out the door, they should be treated like any other non-profit.

The primary problem was if someone called and wanted to rent the patio to do an event in front of the school we would say no. So we can't allow the church to add it on to their normal rental or we are showing preferential treatment to not just a renter but to a religious renter. We did it in this smaller side courtyard and everything went great.

 

[ruinexplorer]

When dealing with condensation underneath, have you tried the underlayment for laminate flooring? Obviously, if this will be for the outside patio, you won't need this.