The Best Seats
In The House

With our head offices located in Canada, we usually jump at the chance to head south for either pleasure or business, especially as the cold winter months approach.  Such an opportunity presented itself this year (and every year for that matter), this one in particular being the Athletic Business Show (AB Show).

One of the athletic industry’s premier tradeshows, the AB Show was held late last week down in sunny Orlando, Florida.  For the past 34 years, the AB Show has been treating professionals to educational seminars and workshops, social receptions with some of the industry’s most respected keynote speakers.

Straddling the border of Canada and the United States lies a trio of waterfalls that collectively form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge and are aptly referred to as Niagara Falls.  Not far from this popular tourist destination that attracts visitors from around the world, you will find Niagara Falls, Ontario, a small, but vibrant city known for its friendly population and long list of outdoor experiences available to visitors.

Our most recent project landed us in the City of Niagara Falls, which contracted our organization to breathe some new air into a set of out-dated grandstand bleachers in one of the city’s many outdoor parks.  Oakes Park is found smack dab in the centre of this bustling small city and is only roughly 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the falls themselves.  Amenities at the park include an ample parking area, children’s playground, soccer pitch, two baseball diamonds, track surface, restrooms and concessions.

Before the snow hit the ground last winter, our crews were working diligently on getting the final touches on what is now one of Ottawa’s most beautiful recreational parks.  After two years of planning, the Millennium Park project grew wings of its own and took flight.

The $8 million park expansion includes a new artificial turf football and soccer field, stadium seating and lighting, nine full-size soccer fields, a junior-size soccer field, two ultimate Frisbee fields, a 400m running track, two shade structures, a club house for junior sports clubs, a splash pad with both senior and junior play zones, and junior and senior play structures and swing sets.

If you own or operate a facility that contains an open space such as a gymnasium, the versatility of a telescopic bleacher system cannot be beat.  Stacking up against a wall or installed within a recessed wall, these seating structures are discrete when not in use.  When the time comes for a special or athletic event, these bleachers can be pulled out either manually or by way of electric operation, giving spectators a proper place to sit and cheer.

In addition to the versatility of these systems, they can also be customized in a number of different ways including the number of rows, the kind of seating installed and with custom colour configurations.  Oftentimes you will see these seating systems adorned with the school or team colours across each row of seating and we even have the ability to customize messaging such as school or team initials.

Despite an unfortunate loss on opening day at the newly-revitalized Richardson Stadium, the Queen’s Gaels, Queen’s University and the city of Kingston all remain winners.  What currently stands as one of Canada’s premier collegiate football stadiums, Richardson Stadium is a sight to behold now that it is finally complete.

We began the preliminary stages of this project over a year ago and since have been involved with one of the most talked-about and memorable stadium openings in eastern Ontario.  As crews demolished this historic stadium, we were more than proud to be a part of the re-designing and re-building of such an iconic athletic institution.

Every year the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) awards over $130 million in grants to approximately 1,000 public benefit sector organizations and is one of Canada’s largest granting foundations.  This number alone reflects a $20 million increase in available grant funding than what was available just two years ago.

As the program matures, additional initiatives and program guidelines have been added, removed and simplified.  One such change for 2017 is the streamlining of the grant’s application process.  While the program is still operating under its four main investment streams: Seed, Grow, Capital, and Collective Impact, applicants will now only be required to remember one date when it comes to application deadlines.  Moving to a one-deadline-per-year system mirrors other successful initiatives such as the Ontario Media Development Corporation and the Ontario Arts Council.

Once again we found ourselves in the state of New York for one of our recent projects.  Located in Yonkers, The Julia Dyckman Andrus Center or ANDRUS is a private, non-profit organization that specializes in teaching children and families the skills to express and cope with strong emotions.  Providing childcare, home visiting, mental health services, residential treatments, and special education programs, ANDRUS aims to be a national leader in shaping policies and practices that give children and families the skills required to overcome challenges and adversity.

In the construction phase of their new facility, key stakeholders within the organization reached out to us in an attempt to secure a custom wall padding solution for a pair of rooms inside the facility.  As with any complete wall padding project, the nature of the project requires an on-site visit to really understand the complexities of the rooms and prospective padding.

Two years ago, we were commissioned to renovate and install new athletic equipment at a newly acquired facility by the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston.  At that time, our team provided that facility with a new walk-draw gym divider curtain as well as customized netting for the mezzanine section of the gymnasium.

Fast forward to 2016 and once again we are hard at work with our long-time partners at the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston and Area, this time aiding them in adding vital equipment to a recently renovated gymnasium in the Robert Meek Youth Centre.

Image: Cheap Snow Gear

As we ease into the month of October, the coming cold winter months are undoubtedly approaching faster than most of us would like.  Despite being treated with football seasons and October baseball, all of us in the athletic industry must be vigilant in preparing for the winter months, particularly in protecting and extending the life of any outdoor equipment.

While most of the products we market for outdoor use are more than capable of withstanding everything Jack Frost can throw at it, some preventative maintenance and small tweaks can certainly help certain pieces of equipment brave the elements.

Not far from our offices on the outskirts of town, this project brought us to one of Ottawa’s most well-respected post-secondary educational institutions; the University of Ottawa.  In addition to being situated in the very heart of Canada’s Capital, the University of Ottawa is also the world’s largest bilingual university, serving students in both English and French.

This project found our team on the campus of this historic university as they were in the process of upgrading the current basketball systems in the university’s athletic complex.  In total, the school was interested in upgrading four wall-mounted basketball systems, complete with a new design, which would allow the facility to move the nets out of the way for other events held in the gymnasium.