The Best Seats
In The House

Used to create an environment completely removed from outside distractions, sensory rooms have been proven to help students in schools across North America since becoming widely used over the past decade or so.

Used in other facilities such as special needs centres, respite centres, old age residences and a number of other locations, their effectiveness in the educational sector has provided students of all ages with a quick escape when required and are complete with both audio and visual aids to promote relaxation.

One of our more recent projects was brought to us by the esteemed team at Avron Distribution. As a leading supplier for a wide range of educational, multi-sensory resources intended for all ages and abilities, Avron has grown to be one of the most recognized suppliers in the industry. Their permanent and mobile solutions have helped promote learning, cognitive ability and physical development since the company’s inception in 1994.

When it comes to your school or local gymnasium, much of the activities that take place on the court are athletic in nature and make up the majority of the time and energy spent in the space. For many facility managers and operators out there, getting bogged down in the day-to-day can sometimes get in the way of ensuring that these types of athletic spaces are working for us as well.

The fact is, your gymnasium should also serve your facility, be it a school or community centre, as an additional source of revenue. While this is common sense to many, there are a number of ways you might not have thought of that can contribute to your operation’s bottom line.

Located in the east end of Canada’s Capital is one of the city’s newest recreational facilities, boasting state-of-the-art facilities and a variety of programming for local residents.

The François Dupuis Recreation Centre is located in the east Ottawa community of Orleans and aims to serve the community as a one-stop-shop for residents’ fitness needs. The new facility features a 25-metre, six-lane pool as well as a leisure pool and a dry sauna. Additionally, there is also a convenient fitness and cardio centre equipped with high-tech fitness equipment with the programming to match.

The NBA Finals may have just recently come to a close, but the spotlight on player and spectator safety with regards to basketball is something that never truly goes away. As one of the fastest-paced indoor sports and one of the most popular here in North America, safety is always of chief concern for coaches, planners, facility managers and operators alike.

While there are a number of safety precautions and products that already likely exist inside your gymnasium such as strategically placed wall padding, we wanted to touch on some of the basketball-specific items than can go above and beyond protecting both players and spectators.

With the action centred on the court, as operators we must not forget how much is above the floor level. With a variety of moving parts, adding additional layers of safety overhead is something we all should think about.

Nestled smack dab in the middle of the Rocky Mountains lies historic Bozeman, located in the southwest portion of the great state of Montana. While not the most populous city in the state, Bozeman does serve as home to the state’s largest university and flagship campus of the Montana State University System, Montana State University (MSU).

With enrolment of roughly 17,000 students, MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 51 fields, master’s degrees in 41 fields and doctoral degrees in 18 fields spread across its nine colleges. Over the past decade, the school has enjoyed monumental growth in both enrolment with major construction and renovation projects including a new Animal Bioscience Building and a major renovation to Gaines Hall.

While we aren’t talking about any current Major League hitters when it comes to community baseball diamonds, we are talking about the big bats of the future. As such, with many community organizations or municipalities, keeping balls in play and out of creeks, lakes, parking lots and crowds is always priority number one.

This was the case in one of our more recent projects in the west end of Ottawa. Located within city limits, the small village of Fitzroy Harbour is situated along the Ottawa River at the confluence of the mighty Carp River. This small village is one of the last stops on the west Ottawa border and is also home to Fitzroy Provincial Park, servicing outdoor enthusiasts since 1963 amid century-old white pines and 200-year-old bur oak trees.

When it comes to indoor bleacher seating, the options can be endless and the choice of product selected ultimately depends on the requirements of each individual facility.

In the case of simple auxiliary seating, our smaller tip and roll bleachers are typically the best choice, allowing facility operators to quickly and easily move and place these small bleachers on an as-needed basis.

When accommodation for more spectators is required in limited spaces such as gymnasiums, our telescopic bleachers quickly become the best choice. Available in a number of configurations and sizes, our Kodiak 2400 series solves the issue of providing ample seating in a limited space. From elementary schools, to high schools, our most popular telescopic units are easily customized to fit most capacity requirements and available spaces but when the need arises for yet another level of indoor bleacher seating, nothing holds a candle to the Kodiak 3200 series systems.

Acting as the governing body of soccer in the United States Virgin Islands, the US Virgin Islands Soccer Association (USVISA) was founded in 1987 while becoming affiliated with CONCACAF in the same year. With headquarters in Christiansted on the picturesque island of St. Croix, the association eventually joined the ranks of FIFA, the official governing body of soccer worldwide, in 1998.

After participating in a successful FIFA-sanctioned project in Barbados, key stakeholders from the USVISA and FIFA once again contacted our team to begin the process of designing and installing some new bleacher seating in the Caribbean.

Similar in nature to the grandstands that were installed in Barbados, the USVISA was interested in two banks of grandstand bleachers to accommodate spectators at their home pitch known as Bethlehem Soccer Complex, which also serves as the head office of the USVISA.

If you have ever had the opportunity to observe a particularly large retractable bleacher system, there is likely little doubt in your mind as to the significant weight of one of these structures. Used in gymnasiums across Canada and the United States, these seating systems are space-saving solutions that are easily rolled out for use when the time or event calls for it.

These wonderfully engineered systems are undoubtedly helpful for various organizations, schools, universities, and public and private athletic facilities. While the majority of the larger versions of these structures are powered electrically and easily moved into the open and closed positions, some have been installed without these powerful motors and rely solely on human operation.

Situated in Kingston, Ontario, we were once again called upon by our esteemed partners and colleagues at Queen’s University.

In 2015, we were awarded the contract to take the lead on the revitalization and rebuilding of Richardson Stadium, a project that saw our team build out the entire stadium from the ground up. We designed and installed seating for 8,000 spectators in what is today known as one of Canada’s premiere collegiate athletic stadiums.

We’ve been fortunate to have a long-tenured relationship with this prestigious institution and continue to foster that relationship to this day.

We were recently called back to Richardson Stadium to address a serious health and safety issue on the outside of the stadium. Located beside the stadium is the school’s maintenance compound where staff members routinely work on keeping the grounds in tip top shape. With a large retaining wall just outside of the building, it was deemed unsafe by officials from the school and they were looking for an immediate solution to protect all staff and others who might use the walkway.