Introduction: PVC Stage Backdrop or Room Divider

About: I like to share interesting things I make.

our elementary school doesn't have a stage. 5th grade graduation usually meant decorating the back wall of the gym. i had to take this down last year, it involved a 10 ft ladder! since i don't get hazzard pay, i had to come up with something else.
i searched the internet to no avail... so one brain fart later this was born!
we got the stuff to decorate it from the prom catalog. the music teacher is happy because she can use the frame for her plays and such. you can use the whole 40' long frame or only a couple of sections. the fittings are permanately attached to the vertical pipe pieces with screws. it all breaks down easily and stores in a closet in the basement.
the main section is 8' high and 40' long, each section is 8' x 8'. the cross pieces that hold it up are 2' on either side (4' total). the photo op for the parents is a seperate 10' x 10' section with the same cross piece dementions. the whole thing cost us under $200, for the frame. the decos were a bit more, but we can reuse the star backdrop plastic for a couple of years. the 2007 columns we'll have to replace of course. we spent maybe $500. i probably could have gotten the pipe cheaper at one of the big home stores, but we've got a lumber yard catty corner to the school and it was easier to pick up the pipe this way. the 5 way and 4 way special fittings i got at http://www.hartnagels.com/pvc.htm . it's made with 1 1/2" pipe.

Step 1: End Bottom

this is the special 4 way piece.

Step 2: Center Section Pieces

this is the special 5 way pieces for the middle sections.

Step 3: Side View

here's a side view of the finished product.

Step 4: Front View

here's a front view with the 5th graders practicing for graduation that evening. it took us about 8 hours total to put everything together for this. the pvc went up quick, it was the rest of the stuff that took time! those 2007 columns and the silver ones in the photo op aren't easy! we had no more than 6 people at any one time working on this. the next morning, i came to work early (i'm the library assistant and pta president) and it took me 45 minutes to have it cleaned up. one of the teachers helped me set the pvc frame down so i could take it apart. some kids from the latchkey program helped clean up the balloons and put all the chairs back in the classrooms they came from.
there's the back wall of the gym that used to get decorated, you can kind of see where the stage used to be before they walled it in sometime in the 70's to make a music classroom behind it. the school was built in 1937 by the WPA.

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