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Stage Lifts Spirits – and Nascar Vehicle
Diehard racing fans know that 1948 was the inaugural year for NASCAR, but that same year also marked another significant beginning for a small church in Greensboro, N.C.
Westover Church held its first service in the mid-1900s with just over 200 people. Since then, the church has evolved into a place where thousands gather to worship, fellowship and experience community events.
When planning began for the church expansion to a brand new facility, the building layout required a unique lifting solution that only a customized F Series material lift made by PFlow Industries, the pioneer and leading manufacturer of vertical reciprocating conveyors (VRCs), could provide.
Greensboro, North Carolina
Church
- F Series 4-Post Mechanical Lift
- Lifts Loads up to 6,000 lbs
- 29’ Vertical Rise
- 3 Levels of Vertical Rise
- 8 FPM Travel Speed
The Challenge
The staff at Westover Church continually looks for creative ways to illustrate their messages, but with the sanctuary stage and storage area located two stories above ground level, they needed to find a solution that wasn’t going to limit their possibilities.
“Our facility is a large venue that also hosts many local events,” says Jeff Neubauer, director of Technical Production at Westover, “We needed a lift that would eliminate the logistical hassles of loading and unloading equipment between floors.”
Manually hauling large, bulky props and equipment between multiple levels was not going to be a viable option with the church’s limited manpower. Any standard lifting products would not have the flexibility to fit into the layout of the building.
The ideal solution would be a high capacity lift that would be able to bring materials from the ground level up through the church stage.
The PFlow Solution
Longtime PFlow dealer, Material Handling Technologies of Greensboro, N.C., was contacted to find a suitable solution to the unique challenge.
The 6,000-pound-capacity, F Series 4-post VRC was custom designed to meet their application needs. On a weekly basis, the lift serves as a major access point from the drive-through loading area to the storage room and stage. As the lift rises to the stage level, the stage floor rises along with it – when the lift is lowered, the stage floor moves back into place.
When a NASCAR race car made a special appearance at the church for a sermon series, the 10’ x 20’ carriage easily accommodated the vehicle and shows the array of possibilities available to utilize the facility and pursue the goal to expand their ministry.
“Due to the layout of the facility, a VRC was the only possibility for Westover Church and after partnering with PFlow for many years, knew they had the engineering capabilities to make the solution a reality.”
Tony Ledyard, Regional Manager, Material Handling Technologies