“ROUGH GUIDE” TO ERECTING, DISMANTLING AND STORING THE SEATING
ROSTRA IN THE VILLAGE HALL, WEST ASHLING.
1. ERECTING:
1.1 PREPARING AUDITORIUM:
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Move chairs to front of room, in north-west corner (see drawing 1 on page 2);
1.2 REMOVING ROSTRA PARTS FROM STORAGE CUPBOARD:
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Remove ladders, & other items needed during “Get-in”, to outside the cupboard so as
not to impede removal of rostra parts.
Remove safety rails from on top of folded rostra bases;
Remove large dais wedged in front of rostra storage area - pull out bottom enough to
free it from sloping beam above, then slide vertically southwards to rest it against
other sloping beam;
Remove rostra bases and take into Auditorium – tallest ones marked “A” first, then
“B”, etc. (For work in Auditorium, see 1.3 below);
Lift white melamine-covered table from off rostra tops, and put it in the Auditorium
near emergency doors;
Lift all other spare rostra tops from off the seating ones, and lean against INSIDE wall
behind you (the north wall of cupboard);
Remove intermediate steps & shaped planks, and place at front of Auditorium;
Remove all seating rostra tops into Auditorium, in sequence of erection (see 1.3
below).
1.3 ERECTING ROSTRA IN AUDITORIUM:
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Open folded base units, starting with “A1” and place near northeast corner of room
(labelled corner nearest room corner) – allow enough room for 2 people to lift tops
onto bases;
Assemble remainder of back row – note that all units marked “4” have cut-outs at the
top of the base units to allow fixing of safety rails, and these cut-outs must be nearest
the south side of room;
A gap needs to be left between some of the rostra Nos 1 and the north wall because of
the wall pier half way from the NE corner to the nearest metal pillar – once the
relevant row is placed against the pier, the remainder of the rows can be lined-up;
The front row bases consist of interlocking shaped planks, instead of folding frames –
make sure that the black-painted pieces face outwards; also ensure that pieces with
the same reference number are used together, because they have been “matched”;
Swing over (or fit) the linking metal straps to lock the tops together – note that the
intermediate steps act as straps at the centre of the rows;
Fit the intermediate steps, screwing down the angle irons onto the rostra tops, except
the front-most one where the angle irons fix vertically onto the end of the base
“planks”.
Fit the safety rails to all except the back row;
Assemble the “special” rostrum for the Sound & Lights control point, put it in the SE
corner between the doors and row “A”, and place melamine-covered table on it;
Finally, place the chairs on the rostra – link them each side of the centre aisle – and 2
rows at the front on the Auditorium floor.
1.4 TIDYING UP:
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In the storage cupboard, slide the large dais back into the north end;
Remove the Women’s Institute banner from the east wall of the Auditorium and hang
it in the storage cupboard - there are nails for this in the longitudinal beam, above
where rostra tops are normally stored.
T.D. Grindrod
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25/06/2008
T.D. Grindrod
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25/06/2008
2. DISMANTLING & STORING:
2.1 PREPARATIONS:
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Move chairs to front of room, in north-west corner (see drawing 1 on page 2);
Remove the Women’s Institute banner from the storage cupboard and hang it on the
east wall of the Auditorium;
In the storage cupboard, slide the large dais to the south end;
2.2 DISMANTLING ROSTRA:
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Remove the safety rails;
Remove the intermediate steps, leaving the angle irons attached to the steps;
Take out one screw & swing over the linking metal strap from between pairs of tops –
do not remove straps from both tops;
Remove tops and take to storage cupboard –see 2.3 below for stacking method;
Dismantle front row interlocking bases, and stack temporarily by the stage;
Fold up remainder of bases once the tops are stacked in the cupboard;
Fold up the melamine-covered table, and move to the storage cupboard once the tops
are stacked.
2.3 STACKING ITEMS IN THE STORAGE CUPBOARD (see drawing 2 on page 4):
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To simplify erection next time, stack the tops from the highest reference number first;
Stack the tops as near vertical as possible, ALL THE SAME WAY ROUND, staggered as
needed to take up minimum space;
Place shaped rostra planks on top of the rostra tops, longer ones lowest, then
intermediate steps on top;
Place the white melamine-covered table on the rostra tops;
Lift the spare rostra tops leaning against the north wall of cupboard and place on top
of the seating tops;
Store folding rostra bases between tops and north wall – place 4 lowest ones first, in
the NW corner;
Place the largest bases alongside the smallest;
Next place the 2nd lowest bases, with the 2nd tallest alongside, and continue in same
manner until all standard bases are stored;
It should be possible to store the special base provided the others have been placed
correctly !
Slide the large dais across in front of the rostra storage area – keep the bottom out
until wedged under the sloping beam above;
Finally, place the safety rails on top of the folded bases, and store ladders, etc.
2.4 TIDYING UP:
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Move chairs to NE corner of Auditorium;
Replace ladders, advert boards, etc, in storage cupboard.
T.D. Grindrod
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25/06/2008
T.D. Grindrod
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25/06/2008