Founded in 1967 in the Greater Toronto Area, Durham College is located in Oshawa, Ontario. The college currently has roughly 95,000 alumni and offers programming including business, information technology, media, art, design, general arts, science, skilled trades, justice, emergency services, health and engineering technology.
Having designed and built many bleacher systems for clients around the world, when large colleges and universities are in need of large outdoor seating solutions, Sport Systems is always among the first contacts made.
Serving as home of the Lords, the women’s softball program draws players from across Canada and so a brand new field was constructed to support the growing program and its athletes. With a new artificial turf, the school was in search of a new seating system to accommodate the Lords’ growing fan base.
Key stakeholders from the college sought a new grandstand bleacher and an accompanying press box for the baseball field and this was where our team came into the conversation. The discussions regarding the seating system began with the design of a mitred bleacher, which was required to hug the contour lines of the backstop. In addition to the unique shape, the bleacher had to be fully accessible and contain areas of barrier-free seating, allowing for clear sightlines for all spectators.
The bleacher also had to contain an extra 100 VIP seats in addition to the regular seating planned for the new structure. Located directly behind home plate, these VIP seats were installed in front of the new 8’ x 24’ fully customized press box.
The press box was designed with three interior rooms including a rooftop filming platform to ensure every at-bat was captured without interruption.
Following the design and manufacturing phase, our team headed down to the college to install both the seating and the new press box. Today, the beautiful new field is able to accommodate over 400 spectators to watch the Lords from the best bleachers in the business.