THe Hall I grew up in originally had windows but covered them up in the 70's.
Just thinking, isn't that a Fire Dept. violation if a bldg has no windows?
What's with this "no windows in kingdom halls" thing?
by Trapped in JW land 32 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
ShirleyW
THe Hall I grew up in originally had windows but covered them up in the 70's.
Just thinking, isn't that a Fire Dept. violation if a bldg has no windows?
-
_Morpheus
No windows (in the USA at any rate) are not a fire code issue, specified and specific doors are.
-
GLTirebiter
I understand that (locally) it's mostly a matter of cost: building costs and heating/cooling costs. Some of the larger halls in more affluent araes have windows, while smaller and poorer ones do without. Fitting and installing windows also is a task that takes some patience to do well, so it burdens the weekend "quick build" time table; here the cost is in hours rather than in dollars.
It could also be related to zoning laws. Often the city will require some minimum amount of windows so the building will fit in, not looking too "industrial" for the area. The building committee must include some windows in the plans, so they can get their building permit approved.
[edited for spelling corrections]
-
Witness 007
Old halls did not have windows for security and so you dont see the late comers going in during the song. People stare even during the prayer.
-
Juan Viejo2
In the USA each major city or counties have their own building codes. Each set of building codes may change over time as the City Manager or Mayor changes. So in the same city you may see older (pre-2000) KHs without windows and newer ones with windows.
Many years ago there most building codes required a fairly large numbers of windows to allow air (before adequate cooling and heating systems became affordable). Many of these windows were not large enough to allow anyone to climb in or out, but had some movable sections to allow fresh air in and odors out during cleaning.
The main reasons the Watchtower discourages windows is (1) extra cost, (2) cleaning requirements, (3) security, and (4) to reduce distractions for those trapped inside during meetings. It also improves sound distribution inside and reduces distracting sounds from outside the buildings.
I grew up in a Kingdom Hall that had large paned windows all the way down on one side and small (bathroom type) windows on the opposite side. I notice that a recent church that had bought the old building removed or plastered over the windows except for two small vertical panes on each side of the entry doors.
Realize that most "Christian" churches, both classic and more modern, use glass windows as decorative displays that only let a small amount of sunlight in at certain times of the day. But in some USA communities, local building codes require a certain number of windows that will allow for entry and egress for fire and police and other emergency personnel. But if they don't have windows then the doors must be made of wood or other material that will allow fire department drills or axes to easily cut through in case someone is trapped inside or emergency personnel must enter for other reasons.
The bottom line is local building codes prevail, but the Watchtower would have no windows except in their highrise office buildings (view!) if they could.
JV
-
Julia Orwell
Every kh I've ever been to in Australia has windows. Must be a non-Australian thing.
-
Magnum
MikeMusto: i like it when people make silliness out of nothing. gives us apostates a good name
It is not silliness, and there is something to it. There is not a single Kingdom Hall in my area with a single window; it is by design. It is so noticeable that non-JWs ask about it. A man told me that he heard that JWs build buildings with no windows in order to better keep the holy spirit in. While that is ludicrous, it does show that non-JWs notice the fact that are no KH windows in my area. No glass anwhere - not even on or around doors.
I feel that there's a practical reason - maybe for security - maybe even insurance rates are lower.
insidetheKH: the no-window story is a hoax.. i have visited Kingdom Halls in dozens of countries on 4 different continents... all had windows
It is not a hoax. As I said above, no KHs have so much as a single window in my area, and that is by design. I believe that older KHs had windows and then, for practical reasons, windows were eliminated from designs. Now that the org has changed from a publishing business to a real estate business, I believe they are starting to put windows in new KHs for better resale.
-
Apognophos
Magnum, the whole reason for this silly meme about windowless Halls is that folks like yourself look around your specific area and extrapolate to the entire world's Kingdom Halls. I am aware of at least one Hall built within the last few years that has plenty of windows. They were never phased out from the general Hall plans.
-
Oubliette
All seven of the KHs nearest my location do not have windows in the main auditorium.
These are in the southwestern US, and all of the halls were either built or drastically remodeled within the last 20 years.
I vaguely remember a branch letter advising new halls not have windows as a security thing, but that's lame as it's as easy to kick in a door as break in through a window. My recollection is that this was early '90s but I'm not certain.
In typical WT fashion, you know they had another reason, but they weren't saying what that reason actually is/was.
Someone that had been on the RBC and paying attention might have more to offer on this.