The Best Seats
In The House

Located in southwestern Ontario, one of our most recent projects lead us to beautiful Essex County, Ontario. Stretching south along the banks of Lake Erie, the area is known for its wonderful beaches and small-town flair.

The project was brought to us by the Greater Essex County District School Board  as they were interested in creating a custom grandstand bleacher for the Essex District High School located in the northwest corner of the City of Essex. Founded in 1885, the high school serves as the oldest operating publicly funded secondary school in the entire province of Ontario and currently serves roughly 1,000 students in the area.

Looking to add to the sidelines of the school’s athletic field, the idea to design and build a custom 10-tier grandstand was brought to our team earlier this year. In addition to the seating and ensuring the bleacher was completely accessible, our team was also mandated with coordinating, furnishing and closing off the building permit as well as procuring all inspectors necessary for the school to obtain occupancy from the municipal building authority.

Headquartered just south of Canada’s capital, the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO) proudly offers quality Catholic education and programming to students across the eastern regions of the province. Blending specialized learning opportunities, athletics, and faith, the school board is committed to social justice and serves as the board of nearly 40 schools in Ontario.

One of the most common safety risks in gymnasiums across North America today is undoubtedly outdated gym partitions. These massive dividers were commonplace in most gymnasiums throughout the 80s and 90s but with the development of new technology, improvements in design and additional safety mechanisms, they are quickly becoming dangerous relics of the past.

We are all blessed to live on such a beautiful planet and for many of us, keeping it in great shape is a priority. As new initiatives are released on a daily basis, there is much for each one of us to do to make the world a better place for the next generation.

While we all have an individual responsibility to our planet, we believe as a business we do too. This is why, where and whenever possible, we aim to source and utilize the very best materials for our products and to ensure they are manufactured in a way that has as little impact as possible.

With that in mind, we wanted to highlight a few of our products that we proudly supply that are made using recycled materials. These popular products can be found in gymnasiums and athletic facilities around the world and it is our hope to expand our offerings using recycled materials where the opportunity exists.

A global self-funded nonprofit organization, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) devotes itself to preventing death, injury or economic loss due to fire and other related hazards.

With such a broad reaching mandate, this organization sets the standard in safety by utilizing over 300 consensus codes and standards and has been a leader in safety since its inception in 1896.

Specifically designed to minimize the risk and effects of fire, the organization develops and distributes educational programs, tools and resources for all ages and audiences in addition to their internationally recognized code of standards.

While these regulations and guidelines can be far reaching, they also extend into the nature of our business in many ways as well. When it comes to setting the safety standards to bleachers and grandstands, the NFPA updates their codes and standards regarding these products once a year based on public and industry input.

Here are a few main conditions that must be considered when designing your next stand-alone seating structure.

One of the most common questions we field is whether or not a prospective bank of bleacher seating requires a guardrail or not. With these seating structures varying widely in size and design, the answer can be hard to determine, depending on who you talk to.

With spectator safety in mind, it’s no surprise that facility operators and owners want to ensure they get this part of their bleacher order correct. The risk of having an unnecessary injury looming over your facility or league is just not something that anyone wants. It is one of the reasons that we take a proactive approach to safety precautions by recommending solutions tailored for every product or situation.

For us, not much looks better than a fresh cut sports playing field as the morning sun rises high above the bleacher structures that adorn the sidelines. While they might be empty at that point in the day, we are constantly reminded of everything they bring to the events, to both the athletes and spectators throughout the year.

We are all undoubtedly familiar with their function – to seat throngs of fans who attend every game to cheer on family, friends and the athletes of tomorrow.  When it comes to ordering a bleacher structure  for an athletic field or facility, questions about configuration and seating capacity are often the first to surface, especially for those unfamiliar with the process.

In what is often referred to as Sarnia’s premier baseball park is also its oldest. Dating back to the 1950s, the baseball diamond has long served the community as a hub for local baseball serving as a home diamond for the Sarnia Braves as well as other local teams.

Following the completion of a new set of dugouts built in 2014, plans were set in motion to complete the redesign in the years following. With plans set to build around the new dugouts, demolition on the site began in 2017, with the rebuild slated for 2018.

The existing 600-seat bleachers were in disrepair, so included in the rebuilding operation was a new grandstand seating system complete with customized accessibility ramps, viewing platforms and more. Change rooms, a new concession area, netting barrier, landscape design and baseball field backstop were all also part of the scope of work for the historic athletic field.

In a picturesque rural setting with Lake Ontario to the south lies the city of Bowmanville, Ontario. Home to roughly 40,000 residents, Bowmanville is located just 75km (47 miles) from the great city of Toronto and offers a tranquil community as part of the Greater Toronto area.

Travelling just north of the downtown core is the Gaud Corners community and home to the Knox Christian School, where one of our most recent projects took place. With deep roots in the community, Knox Christian School has been an admirable educational institution since its inception in 1957, providing students with strong academics and opportunities to grow spiritually in the Canadian Christian community.

From where we sit, there is nothing better than witnessing scores of spectators rising from their seats to cheer on their local sports team. Having been involved in the sports infrastructure and equipment industry for over 40 years now, nothing makes us more excited than a well-planned athletic space or outdoor sports field. While we now support all facets of athletic equipment and the design process, our hearts are deeply rooted in the very seating that accommodates a crowd of rabid fans. Having designed bleachers and grandstands of all shapes and sizes over the years, we continue to pay attention to what facility owners and operators need and expect from their sideline seating.

As such, nothing ruins a good day at the field more than a mishap on the bleachers due to a lack of care and maintenance. With this in mind, we wanted to touch on a few easy tips for keeping your bleacher seating in game-day condition for many years to come.

On the west-end of the Island of Montreal lies the City of Kirkland. This small suburb serves as a residential community close to the hustle and bustle of downtown Montreal. Originally incorporated as a municipality in 1961, Kirkland was merged into the City of Montreal in 2002 becoming a borough before eventually being re-constituted as an independent city in January of 2006.

The City of Kirkland approached our team in September 2018 as they were looking to secure product and pricing information for a pair of top-roll gym divider curtains as they prepared the 2019 city budget.

After a couple of in-person visits by our installation team, we promptly provided detailed pricing and specifications which aided us in providing the best possible solution for their needs.