The Best Seats
In The House

Working closely with our partners at Sparks@Play, headquartered in Maryland, our team was brought in to help assess the condition of some outdated retractable bleachers. Lying just outside of Washington, DC is the suburb of Annandale, Virginia and the Audrey Moore RECenter, the location where our efforts would be focused.

The community facility, managed by Fairfax County, features a number of amenities including an Olympic sized swimming pool, fitness room, pottery lab, racquetball courts, an indoor gymnasium, an outdoor skate park and outdoor tennis courts.

Inside the gymnasium was a set of outdated wooden retractable bleachers that were in need of replacement and it was our partners at Sparks@Play that were contacted by the county to get the job done.

Operating across three campuses in eastern Ontario, St. Lawrence College (SLC) is one of the province’s leading institutions when it comes to applied arts and technology. Home to roughly 7,000 full-time students, SLC specializes in programs such as applied science and computing, baccalaureate nursing, business, community services, justice studies, applied arts, health sciences as well as skilled trades and tourism.

As the institution continues to experience exponential growth, 2018 was the year that saw exciting projects come to fruition at the school’s flagship campus in Kingston. As part of the Hello Future Capital Project, renovations and a new build to the Student Life and Innovation Centre got underway after over 80 percent voted in favour of supporting the project in a student referendum.

Looking directly into the backyard of Buffalo, New York, Fort Erie is one of the Niagara area’s fastest growing communities located along the banks of the Niagara River.

With a backstory that dates back to the War of 1812, Old Fort Erie attracts visitors from across the country looking for a historic re-enactment and a trip back to a pivotal time in Canadian history.

We had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful town after being enlisted by the District School Board of Niagara to design, supply and install a completely new seating structure for a local high school.

With what is one of the most recognizable names in personal development and athletics across North America, the YMCA organization is deeply connected with our roots here in our hometown of Almonte, Ontario.

As many are aware, the founder of basketball, Dr. James Naismith was born here in our fair town but what remains unknown to many is that the sport was actually developed elsewhere. In fact, it wasn’t until Naismith was studying at what was then known as the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts that he invented the game when tasked with interesting pupils in physical exercise.

Located on the Island of Montreal, Lachine is a borough of the city in southwestern Quebec. Thought to have been named in 1667 after its then owner René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle attempted to find passage to Asia while exploring the interior of North America. It was aptly named Lachine, (from the French language, la Chine (China)) and has a colourful history leading up to its incorporation as a city in 1872 and then finally being merged as a part of the City of Montreal in 2002.

In one of our more recent projects this fall, our team was on the ground in Lachine, working closely with our partners at ANA Architecture on a retractable bleacher project at a local high school.

Following some good initial conversations and the makings of an established relationship with ANA Architecture, they reached out to our team for specifications on a new telescopic bleacher for the school’s gymnasium.

Aluminum bleachers are a popular option for sports and social events because they are convenient and cost efficient. However, due to ADA compliancy regulations, assembly areas in arenas, stadiums and event centres with a bleacher setup, must provide accommodations for wheelchairs and companion seating. This means the addition of not only seating spaces but also ramps and handrails to ensure safe and easy access.

With so many venues having been in existence for thirty years or more, there is a growing concern that these regulations cannot be met without incurring massive renovations and expenses. Some of the older seating designs that are most affected by the recent regulations include telescoping bleachers, fixed stadium seating, outdoor grandstands and auditorium seating.

Back at one of Canada’s top-ranked independent schools, we once again found ourselves on the beautiful campus of the Country Day School just outside of Toronto. Included on the 100-acre campus is a completely customized grandstand bleacher our team had the pleasure of designing and installing with help from our partners at Ash Stevenson over the early summer months.

Upon completion of the bleacher seating structure, talks immediately ensued that had our team deeply rooted into the finishing touches that would be added to this brand-new structure. Heading back to the prestigious school, stakeholders within the organization were interested in finishing the bleacher with a customized windscreen that would cement the grandstand as the focal point of Country Day School athletics.

As the year progresses and the colder months approach, the need for winterization and protection of athletic fields and equipment must be considered. Regardless of the field’s purpose, be it football, baseball, soccer or any other athletic use, anyone in the athletic industry knows the importance of being vigilant and actively planning and preparing for the winter months is crucial in protecting and prolonging the life of outdoor athletic areas and equipment.

While a large majority of the products on athletic fields are designed to withstand the harsh winter temperatures, there are steps that should be taken to further protect some items.

The playing field itself is one of the most important for outdoor sports venues. Any groundskeeper or coach realizes the need for a field to be kept in optimal condition whether during peak season or any other time. The additional maintenance and investment will pay off.

Headquarted in Mississauga, we were once again enlisted by our partners at the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board for some recent upgrades to one of their schools. Fresh off the completion of the installation of new telescopic bleachers for Father Michael Goetz Secondary School, the board reached out to us to complete another project within their 148-member school board.

Much the same way many of these projects come to fruition, the board determined that the time had come to replace the outdated and unsafe wooden retractable bleachers at Notre Dame Secondary School in Brampton.

Serving approximately 1,500 students across the Heart Lake region in Brampton and the communities of Caledon, Orangeville, Bolton, and Georgetown, the school has been in operation at its current location since 1988.

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.