The Best Seats
In The House

One of our more recent projects brought us back to Canada’s most southern city, Windsor. Tucked along the Detroit River directly across from the Motor City (Detroit), Windsor is a major player in the Canadian automotive industry and the area’s 400,000 residents.

Working closely with the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board in southern Ontario, we were contracted to perform some work at Holy Names Secondary School on the south side of Windsor.

Home of the Knights athletic program, the school was scheduling a two-phase approach to the construction of two sets of large bleachers and a press box to adorn their new field and track.

The forgotten basement, the storage room, or the outbuilding that hasn’t been used in ages are all examples of projects we have had some involvement in over the past couple of years.

While we do spend a lot of our time on baseball and football fields and inside gymnasiums, we are often tasked with projects that require a refreshed vision and some old-fashioned ingenuity.

As space becomes limited as programming grows, planners, managers and operators are sometimes left scrambling for additional areas in which sports and other activities can be performed. Rather than incurring the massive expense of an addition to an existing facility or building an entirely new building, many are taking stock of what they can presently maximize.

In some cases, these spaces are basements, storage areas, sheds, barns and other such structures and with some planning, can be transformed into wonderful facilities all in themselves.

Taking a different approach to traditional child care, Children of America is education-focused in caring for the next generation. Following structured curriculum, Children of America has grown to become the number-one preschool in the United States and currently serves children and families in 12 states across 64 individual locations.

During the winter months of 2018, our team was in contact with key stakeholders from within the organization as they were in the market for some durable and safe wall padding for their location in Woodbridge, Virginia. The location had a specialized playroom for children that had become a slight safety concern as the room contained a variety of corners and pillars that could pose potential hazards for children at play.

While we do indeed spend the bulk of our time working primarily with commercial and industrial clientele such as municipalities, colleges, universities and school boards, we do dabble from time to time in the residential space.

Outside of smaller padding or gym mat orders we often receive from private customers, we do get other large projects suited for homes, home gyms and backyards across Canada and the United States. We have supplied custom “Tar Heel blue” wall padding for a UNC fan, some bleachers and benches for a California resident, residential quiet room padding in the province of Quebec, among many others.

Named after a dear friend of school founder Ed King, Father Michael Goetz Secondary School (FMGSS) first opened the doors to its current location in 1990. Originally located in Etobicoke, the current location is situated in Mississauga and currently serves upwards of 1,300 students.

As part of some renovations scheduled to take place over the summer of 2018, our team was contacted by members of the Dufferin Peel Catholic School Board to discuss the possibility of replacing some outdated seating located in the gymnasium of FMGSS.

Athletic programming is a crowded space. With more participants perhaps than ever before, facility owners and operators are always scrambling to not only offer cutting-edge equipment but to also ensure every inch of space is properly utilized.

When it comes to gymnasium equipment, the list is long and highly customized. With expansions in program offerings in educational and community-based facilities, the need for additional equipment is seemingly never ending.

For operators of busy facilities, the need for speed and automation is growing with each day that passes. When it comes to educational facilities such as schools, colleges and universities, the gymnasium is typically a heavily scheduled location, catering to a variety of programming and athletic competition.

Overlooking Lake Nipissing in northern Ontario is Nipissing University, a primarily undergraduate university recognized for smaller class sizes, unbeatable student living conditions and accessible support from faculty members.

Located in North Bay, the school reached out to us in late 2017 as they were in some preliminary discussions regarding the design of a new bleacher seating system and press box. Known for their athletic prowess in soccer, basketball and hockey (among others), the school’s athletic pride is green and black representing the Nipissing Lakes across the province.

Celebrating over ten years since opening in the Greater Toronto Area, the South Asian Autism Awareness Centre (SAAAC) is where one of our most recent projects landed us.

The centre was created as a direct response to the growing need for awareness and support for South Asian families impacted by ASD and other developmental disorders.

The centre has experienced exponential growth over the past decade, now servicing over 150 families. In the fall of 2017, they reached out to our team for help with a new facility.

As part of their expansion, the SAAAC had plans in place to take over a building that had been donated to them by one of Toronto’s school boards.

It was the early 1970s in King Township, just north of Toronto. The local government decided it was time to shut down the country schools in outlying areas, promising to bus local primary students to one of the newer regional public elementary schools.

At the time, parents of children enrolled in country schools were skeptical of the larger institution’s ability to create the warmth and commitment they had grown accustomed to in smaller country schools.

So these parents formed a coalition that would determine the feasibility of opening a co-ed private school for students in grades 1-8 in King Township. After the research was completed, the decision was made to begin preparations to complete what would soon become known as The Country Day School – opening in the fall of 1972.

Multifaceted spaces such as gymnasiums require multifaceted solutions when it comes to the right equipment. Whether it is seating requirements, sporting equipment, safety padding or properly dividing the space, chances are the solution that is right for your gym is going to be customized in one way or another.

When it comes to  gym divider curtains, this sentiment could not be truer. Deciding to divide your gymnasium is a great way to add another level of versatility to the space and take on additional athletic programming. Choosing a gym divider curtain, however, is not something that should be taken lightly.