The Best Seats
In The House

Along with the arrival of spring,  the last couple of months has brought plenty of growth. Along with the sprouting of flowers and the budding of trees, it also marks a time for the re-emergence of outdoor sports, including baseball.

Serving as home to the Ottawa Titans baseball team, Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park has been a fixture of Canada’s capital since it was built back in 1992. Having served a number of teams over the years, it’s become a staple of summer baseball here in our fair city.

We’ve done a wide array of basketball systems over the years in a number of different locations. From private residences, universities, colleges and high schools to community centres and summer camps, we feel like we’ve truly seen it all.

One of our more recent projects allowed us to continue to expand our portfolio of basketball system installations, adding off-campus student housing to the growing list. Located in the heart of Canada’s Capital, the THEO is conveniently located close to both the University of Ottawa and NIHN. Serving students from both of these respected institutions, the THEO exists to provide a safe, fun and most importantly, an affordable place for students to live off-campus.

When it comes to partnerships, it's something we take very seriously. Our dealer program has grown exponentially over the past decade, but still remains relatively small. Like a tight-knight group of hardworking organizations should, we always aim to keep the lines of communication open and the quality of the product we produce high.

In southern Ontario lies the picturesque municipality of Chatham-Kent, a rural area teeming with history. In addition to having been the northern terminus of the Underground Railroad in the 19th Century, it was also home to one particularly famous baseball player.

Born in Chatham and known locally as “Fergie”, Ferguson Jenkins was a prominent figure in the Chatham athletic community before getting his big break in the major leagues. Competing in track and field, ice hockey and basketball throughout his youth, it was baseball that became his ultimate love. With a career that spanned nearly 20 years in Major League Baseball, Fergie spent most of his time with the infamous Chicago Cubs. Throughout his career he amassed three all-star seasons, led both the National League and American League in wins, had over 3,000 strikeouts and was the first Canadian pitcher to win the Cy Young award.

Purchasing any sort of large equipment can be a daunting task, particularly if you have very little experience working with the piece of equipment you’ve been tasked with sourcing. Generally speaking, bleachers tend to fall into this category of equipment that the general public doesn’t have a lot of experience with.

For the majority of us, purchasing something such as bleachers is something that might happen every once and a while (although for some, it becomes an on-going thing). As such, product education is something that becomes very important when making purchasing decisions. 

When it comes to bleachers, it is important to get the basics right, hence why we put together this quick reference guide outlining the ideal bleacher purchasing process.

Follow along as we go start-to-finish through every step of the bleacher buying process and hopefully shed some light on the product, the people that build them and how to streamline the process for your organization moving forward.

Maybe it was a call, or perhaps a memo that landed on your desk. No matter how it was delivered, you were tasked with acquiring a new set of bleachers. Your new facility, park, sports field or school needs some seating and you have no idea which way to turn.

The good news is, you aren’t alone. While there are buyers that are well-versed in the world of aluminum spectator seating, there are also many that don’t have any experience at all.

When it comes to selecting a new bleacher, there are a few things to figure out before picking up the phone. Given that they come in different shapes, sizes and configurations, it’s important to have a general idea about what exactly you are looking for.

As such, here’s a few things that will catapult you on your way to finding the right bleacher system.

Located in the rural west-end of the city of Ottawa is West Carleton Secondary School. Set on over 100 acres of land, the school serves as home to nearly 1,500 students, focusing both on academics and athletics. Known as the West Carleton Wolves, the school’s athletic department features sports teams in hockey, basketball, badminton, curling and volleyball. 

After a massive expansion to accommodate more students in 2018, West Carleton has continued to focus on improvements. One particular improvement took place in the school’s gymnasium, where an outdated set of bleachers was “locked out” rendering it unsafe and barely usable.

One of our recent projects had us working closely alongside our partners at Seating Safety Solutions back in the beautiful Tar Heel state. Working out of Liberty, North Carolina, Seating Safety Solutions has developed a reputation for being the best in bleacher seating throughout both North and South Carolina.

This unique project involved an existing bleacher structure at a school we had worked at previously. As is the case with many older seating structures across the country, this bleacher was still in great condition, but lacked ramps and barrier-free seating areas and was without any allowances for accessible seating. With more inclusive seating structures becoming the norm, many are turning to us to help them add on to existing structures in an effort to make them ADA compliant. Ensuring that all spectators can enjoy the action on the field is an initiative we can all get behind and one we take seriously.

Image: Pickleball Kingdom

If there’s one game that is making big moves, it’s one that you’ve likely been exposed to in one way or another over the past few years. Popularized throughout the 2010s, we now find ourselves in the middle of what many are labeling the “pickleball gold rush”. With the first national tournament in 2009 drawing over 400 players from Canada and the United States, the pickleball bug has since bitten participants of all ages.

As such, the search for space has become a growing challenge for facility managers and communities alike. Although many have repurposed tennis courts and converted other under-utilized outdoor spaces into pickleball courts, it has hardly kept  up with demand. As part of the rush, we’ve watched as individuals and even commercial real estate players get into the game in an effort to secure more space for additional courts.

Offering a bit of closure to an earlier post about this specific project, we’re happy to announce that the final installation was completed and the event was a huge success. Working closely with key stakeholders at Ottawa’s RA Centre, we were brought onboard to help close out the Centre’s new Curling Centre of Excellence.