The Best Seats
In The House

Acting as the governing body of soccer in the United States Virgin Islands, the US Virgin Islands Soccer Association (USVISA) was founded in 1987 while becoming affiliated with CONCACAF in the same year. With headquarters in Christiansted on the picturesque island of St. Croix, the association eventually joined the ranks of FIFA, the official governing body of soccer worldwide, in 1998.

After participating in a successful FIFA-sanctioned project in Barbados, key stakeholders from the USVISA and FIFA once again contacted our team to begin the process of designing and installing some new bleacher seating in the Caribbean.

Similar in nature to the grandstands that were installed in Barbados, the USVISA was interested in two banks of grandstand bleachers to accommodate spectators at their home pitch known as Bethlehem Soccer Complex, which also serves as the head office of the USVISA.

If you have ever had the opportunity to observe a particularly large retractable bleacher system, there is likely little doubt in your mind as to the significant weight of one of these structures. Used in gymnasiums across Canada and the United States, these seating systems are space-saving solutions that are easily rolled out for use when the time or event calls for it.

These wonderfully engineered systems are undoubtedly helpful for various organizations, schools, universities, and public and private athletic facilities. While the majority of the larger versions of these structures are powered electrically and easily moved into the open and closed positions, some have been installed without these powerful motors and rely solely on human operation.

Situated in Kingston, Ontario, we were once again called upon by our esteemed partners and colleagues at Queen’s University.

In 2015, we were awarded the contract to take the lead on the revitalization and rebuilding of Richardson Stadium, a project that saw our team build out the entire stadium from the ground up. We designed and installed seating for 8,000 spectators in what is today known as one of Canada’s premiere collegiate athletic stadiums.

We’ve been fortunate to have a long-tenured relationship with this prestigious institution and continue to foster that relationship to this day.

We were recently called back to Richardson Stadium to address a serious health and safety issue on the outside of the stadium. Located beside the stadium is the school’s maintenance compound where staff members routinely work on keeping the grounds in tip top shape. With a large retaining wall just outside of the building, it was deemed unsafe by officials from the school and they were looking for an immediate solution to protect all staff and others who might use the walkway.

When many of us think of bleachers, we instantly envision large stadiums and grandstands filled with happy spectators. While this is true of many of the bleachers we design and construct, the truth is, we also create a number of smaller, or low-rise options.

With every organization, facility, and team coming to the table with their own unique needs and circumstances, it’s not hard to imagine that there really is no one-size-fits-all approach to bleacher seating. Generally speaking, many customers come to us looking to solve seating problems for anywhere from 20 to 100 spectators and this is where our low-rise options truly shine.

It’s happening at community centres, sports fields, colleges, universities, and municipal properties across Canada and the United States. No, we aren’t talking about petty theft such as stolen cell phones and other small objects of value; we are talking about large-scale theft of valuable athletic equipment.

A project that was nearly 12 months in the making brought us back to beautiful Montreal, Quebec. Working closely with key stakeholders from the English Montreal School Board which services 41 elementary schools, 17 high schools, 7 adult education facilities, 6 vocational schools and 11 outreach schools on the island of Montreal, we were invited to a tender for some new seating.

The public tender outlined the details for four sections of prospective retractable bleacher sections for JFK High School located just north of the city’s downtown core.

Instead of the original four banks of seating that were to measure 16’ in length and have four rows of seating, our team looked at another possible solution for the school. Thinking a little outside of the box, our team went to tender instead with a proposed bid that outlined just two banks of retractable bleachers that would measure 32’ and would feature four rows of seating.

Committed to fostering a safe, supportive and stimulating environment for students, Ancaster District High School provides a variety of transitional programs and leadership opportunities for its students.

Located in what’s known as Toronto’s Golden Horseshoe, the school is located on the western fringe of the city of Hamilton, a port city located at the west end of Lake Ontario.

In addition to the school’s focus on academics, Ancaster High School also takes pride in its extensive athletic programming. Representing high school athletics as the Ancaster Royals, the school’s gymnasium serves as a hub not only for physical education but also for pride and recognition of the students’ athletic prowess.

The rugged beauty of the Canadian west is certainly something we will grow tired of any time soon and we were fortunate enough to experience it once again this year. Linking up with our partners at RecTec Industries located in picturesque Delta, British Columbia, they brought us a truly unique project at a local high school.

Located in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, this project brought us to Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School, also known as Tweedy by the local community. Established in the early 1940s, the school was founded on the principles of social responsibility and student achievement.

With enrollment numbers of well over 2,000 students, the school’s athletic department was looking not only for some outdoor bleacher seating for their sports field but also for a pair of highly customized spotter stands as well.

Anytime you are building something that is intended to host a large amount of people, safety should be at the forefront of your design plans. When it comes to bleacher seating, slipping is among the biggest and most important safety threats to account for during the design and manufacturing process.

Whether located indoors or outdoors, aluminum bleachers ultimately present certain safety hazards to the people who use them. For outside bleachers, with constant exposure to the elements and varying weather conditions, the risk for slippery surfaces is somewhat obvious. Wet surfaces, particularly those constructed of aluminum or steel, can quickly become hazards if not properly designed and treated. In fact, there are an estimated 8 million cases of injury related to slips and falls each year in the United States alone.

It's probably safe to say that we have all found ourselves sitting in some bleachers at one time or another in our lives. Sports and community events are deeply weaved into North American culture and cheering on our favourite team is a pastime we hold close to our hearts.

These large seating structures are found across sports fields, parks and recreational areas, and educational facilities. As our family members, teammates, classmates, friends and family hone their skills out on the field, ice or turf, we support them from the aluminum and steel bleachers that sit along the sidelines.

In addition to items such as handrails and guardrails, there is much that goes into the complex design of bleachers when it comes to safety. As nothing ruins an event more than an injury, our industry has spent decades perfecting our products to make them safer for all to use.