The Best Seats
In The House

As schools across North America begin to plan reopening, many are in the midst of upgrading facilities and spaces. With students learning virtually, schools have been placed in a precarious state of affairs over the past twelve months, leaving many facility managers wondering what the next steps would look like.

As the planning process continues, we are seeing a flurry of activity as the pandemic rounds the corner and we begin to resume our daily lives in the safest way possible. In addition to athletic infrastructure such as gymnasium upgrades, our custom padding department has been working diligently on churning out new designs and custom projects.

One such project was brought to us once again, by our partners at King Carpentry in southern Ontario. Working closely with school boards, their team is knowledgeable and effective and is quick to secure jobs and perform installations in a safe and timely manner.

With the pandemic getting closer and closer to being completely in our rearview, for many of us, this means getting back to work. Whether you work in an office or in construction, we are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to get things back on track and in a big way.

Once such way that this is coming to fruition is through shovel-ready projects. These projects are those that have already received adequate funding and are simply awaiting the opportunity to get shovels in the ground.

East Side Unit

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world. For those of us who love the game, we played in our driveways as kids, followed our favourite college or professional teams on television, attended school games, and eventually became players ourselves.

Over the years, Sport Systems has had the privilege of providing state-of-the-art equipment for
numerous facilities and sports teams. Recently, however, Sport Systems was presented with
the opportunity to work with a very unique team -- Sacred Heart Catholic School. Located in
Espanola, Ontario, Sacred Heart epitomizes teamwork through the combined efforts and
resources of Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (HSCDSB) and Conseil Scolaire
Catholique du Nouvel-Ontario (CSCNO).

Established in 2014, HybridFHP (fitness, health, performance) had humble beginnings. Operating in a 600 square foot room, it was the brainchild of Josh and Holly Gillam. Athletics and health were nothing new to Josh who has a decorated career in both professional hockey and lacrosse including being a dual-sport Division 1 athlete at Dartmouth College.

Located across the bridge from Canada’s national capital is Ottawa’s unofficial sister city, Gatineau. With close borders between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, the capital region known as Ottawa-Gatineau has long since been connected through tourism, commerce and education.

A little over a year ago, residents of Thorndale, Ontario watched as black smoke billowed as their beloved community centre was engulfed in flames. Having been a community institution for a decade, the early morning fire wreaked havoc on the iconic building leaving only portions of the walls remaining.

A little more than a year ago, the discussion around mass vaccinations would have caused a few eyebrows to raise. While we can certainly reminisce about simpler times, the fact remains that currently speaking, the world has changed dramatically, and we are all doing our best to catch up and remain up-to-speed.

With regards to retractable bleachers, there are a number of facilities that are still operating with outdated set ups. Although they are not all necessarily in disrepair, the fact remains that as the older they get, the risk for failure and possible injury increases.

Hearing the words “dairy” and “distillery” together can create some immediate feelings of confusion and bewilderment. Traditionally, we associate distilleries with our favourite whiskey, tequila, gin and vodka producers. Most alcohol is created using products such as barley, corn, wheat, agave, juniper, potatoes and other grains. So, you may still be asking, how and where are dairy products being used to distill alcohol?

Luckily for us, it happens to be directly next door to our production facility and head office in beautiful Almonte, Ontario. Established only a few short years ago, the Dairy Distillery has taken the alcohol industry by storm with their innovative and environmentally-friendly vodka product, Vodkow.

Artfully bridging the gap between artisanal distilling techniques and cutting-edge technology, this organization has found a way to transform milk sugar into an incredible-tasting spirit.