The Best Seats
In The House

Working locally here in the Ottawa area, we were involved in another exciting project with the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB). Covering an area of roughly 2,900 square kilometers in the National Capital Region, the OCSB is home to over 4,600 staff members and operates a total of 85 institutions including 69 elementary schools, 15 high schools and one intermediate school.

As part of some sweeping upgrades to a number of the schools under the board’s management, we were invited to scope a unique project for a couple of the schools not far from our headquarters.

As is common in many aging educational facilities, some of the athletic equipment previously installed inside the gymnasium can become deemed unsafe for use by students and staff members.

One area of great concern and one which we have years of experience in handling is the demolition, removal, and replacement of outdated partition walls used to separate athletic spaces, mainly in gymnasiums.

As these units age, they no longer work efficiently as they once did and in some cases, they can prove to be fatal. With a small number of deaths in North America on account of these old systems, it is no surprise that school boards and facility operators keep a close eye on operations and make the call for replacement ahead of schedule.

As such, we were invited to two high schools: St. Matthews and All Saints, each of which was equipped with out-of-date folding partitions. Working closely with our partners and general contractors on the project, GR Brune Construction, we were awarded the opportunity and quickly got to work.

After working out designs of new curtains for the two schools, our team was dispatched to first remove and then dispose of the current partitions. As one can imagine, these large and heavy structures can present their own sets of problems during removal. Fortunately, our team has ample experience with these types of units and was able to safely and efficiently remove and dispose of both units.

Following the removal was the successful installation of the curtains in each respective school. Today, each school has a new state-of-the-art gym divider curtain that not only looks great but guarantees safety for years to come. That kind of assurance is something money cannot buy.