The Best Seats
In The House

When it comes to our custom padding department, most often associate our products with the athletic market. While we undoubtedly specialize in that particular market given the complimentary products we carry and manufacture, the fact remains that our reach goes well beyond that.

With regards to padding, in particular, it has the most far-reaching capabilities among our growing product line. Given our ability to customize each and every order, our padding department services the health industry and has many applications in the industrial environment as well.

As large industrial facilities such as warehouses continue to push the envelope to offer their valued employees a safe work environment, padding has become a natural fit. As additional operators find new ways to keep their employees safe, they often lean on our expertise to get the job done correctly.

Located smack dab in the middle of the Keystone State is Juniata County and home to Juniata High School. Serving as home to the Indians, the school’s athletic programming is handled by Athletic Director Joe Skura and includes teams representing the school in cheerleading, baseball, basketball, soccer, football, tennis, track and field, wrestling and more.

Working with our partners at School Installers of Pennsylvania (SIPA), this exciting project was presented to us for evaluation. Given SIPA’s affiliation with the Co-Stars Purchasing Plan in Pennsylvania, SIPA was involved from an early stage in the development of this project.

Religious facilities have come a long way from the churches and places of worship some of us may have been raised in. While there are still many traditional facilities that continue to utilize pews and other wooden seating solutions, today’s modern religious facilities, are turning to something different. Constructing these facilities often costs upwards of millions of dollars and as such, their patrons have higher expectations as to the amenities found inside.

What might come as a surprise to some, today’s religious facilities often share the very same type of seating characteristically found in performing arts facilities and movie theatres.

Opting for a more comfortable fit for their congregations, the styling of the seating found inside modern facilities is highly customizable, allowing for operators to pick and choose colours, configurations, accessories and completely custom designs.

Hitting the road again, our partners at Construction Proulx got us involved with one of their projects in the great province of Quebec. As part of this project in the small town of Amos, they enlisted our help to design and supply a highly customized divider curtain for a local school gym.

Taking accurate measurements at Ecole La Foret, our team was able to get the exact dimensions and specifications required for the project. The school was interested in one of our top-roll gym divider curtains for their maintenance-free and aesthetically pleasing design but had some additional requests for customization.

Whether it be a new build or a renovation to an existing facility, when it comes to planning prospective seating, there is much to take into consideration. While to some, it might seem as easy as picking a number out of thin air in reality, that could not be further from the truth.

With the changing needs of many facilities, the question could be answered using a subtraction or an addition type of formula. With many stadiums, arenas and other locations opting for lower seat counts in hopes of a better spectator experience, the answer has progressed beyond the “go big or go home” mentality of not long ago.

As you prepare to plan seating for your new or existing location, here are a few key factors every planner should take into account before placing an order on new fixed seating.

The sounds of our local parks and recreational areas are often found by following the joyful shrieks and giggles of happy children. As more municipalities across Canada and the United States continue to allocate funding to these outdoor areas, their popularity is growing in tandem with said investment.

Heading to your local park or playground is the best way to appreciate these types of investments. The design and quality of the equipment found onsite has progressed a great deal from what was being installed just a few short years ago.

Today’s playgrounds and recreational areas are built with safety in mind. Outside of the equipment, however, much attention must be paid to the amenities located around these areas as well. Posts, columns, trash receptacles, planters and other site additions must also be taken into account when assessing the overall safety of the recreational area.

In a project that has been many years in the making, we are proud to announce our joint partnership with FIFA, the Barbados Football Association (BFA), C.O. Williams Construction and Musco Lighting.

The strategic partnership was formed to complete the upgrades to the BFA’s Wildey AstroTurf facility that will give it a completely new look.

Established in 1910, the BFA organizes, promotes and regulates football (soccer) activity on the island of Barbados, catering to over 17,000 players island-wide. Affiliated with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 1968, the BFA’s 21-member management team has been working diligently to move this project forward, despite delays.

Backed by over 60 years of clinical experience in the behavioral health and intellectual disabilities field, Grafton Integrated Health Network is a leader in care across the state of Virginia.

With six locations scattered across Old Dominion, Grafton specializes in serving preschool-aged children all the way up to K-12 and is the largest children’s residential provider in the entire state of Virginia.

Working with key stakeholders at the organization’s Berryville, Virginia location, our partners at Sparks@Play brought a unique project to our attention late this summer. Looking to add a motorized gym divider curtain to the gymnasium at the facility, Grafton approached our partners with a challenging project, which as it turned out, needed a highly specialized team to complete.

Image: @pickleballreviews | Instagram

When it comes to sports and athletic programming, don’t count out the quiet, yet growing game of pickleball. Designed and invented in the western United States, what was once a hobby to some is now a national pastime.

As more recreational centres, schools, clubs and senior living communities jump on the pickleball train, for those not yet initiated in the sport, there are a few things that need to be considered. Much like designing, planning and installing any new sport surface, arena or stadium, facility operators and planners must know the complete details of what it is they have been tasked to deliver. Especially if it is something as uncommon as the great sport of pickleball.

Playing host to its second hosting of the U-18 Baseball World Cup, Thunder Bay, Ontario lived up to the hype and so much more in last month’s tournament. Acting as the governing body for the sports of both baseball and softball, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) was established in 2013 when the International Softball Federation and the International Baseball Federation merged to form one singular regulatory committee.

As such, the newly formed confederation organizes a series of World Cup events held in various locations around the world to test the fortitude of baseball players worldwide. The host city selection process can be an arduous one for applicants as the governing body evaluates every aspect of the host city’s application.