The Best Seats
In The House

Heading into the great American Midwest, one of our recent projects landed us in the beautiful state of Missouri. Located roughly 50 miles outside of St. Louis, this project took us to the city of Union where, along with our partners at Carrol Seating, we were commissioned to design a truly unique bleacher.

As the city’s only secondary school, our project was anchored at Union High School, just west of the city. With one seating structure already in place on the home side of the school’s football field, the school district was looking to complement the existing bleacher with another. Given that the current bleacher was not terribly accessible for those in wheelchairs, the mandate of this project was to ensure that the next phase of seating would be completely ADA compliant, allowing all of their fan base access to the bleachers.

Whether you are working on designing a new outdoor sports field, community park, greenspace or other athletic facility, there is so much that goes into the planning process.

When it comes to athletics, we are immediately drawn to what is required to play the game. Items such as soccer goals, football uprights, turf, field paint, etc. are usually the first to get squared away. Following closely behind is the determination as to what kind of seating will be required for the new location. While requirements definitely differ from location to location and are based on what prospective sport is scheduled to be played, most will settle on either a smaller 3-10 row bleacher structure or opt for a larger seating structure such as a complete grandstand.

The complementary amenities market is exploding as designers, planners and operators are looking for additional ways to make the most out of their facility. Below we have broken down the top three site amenities suited to accommodate your next bleacher seating purchase.

In the 40 years in which we have been in operation, our proudest accomplishment has been not only our rapid expansion in Canada and the US, but also into other foreign markets such as Kuwait, Barbados, and Europe among many others.

Once again, we were fortunate to have another international invitation to bring athletic equipment abroad, this time to the African nation of the Republic of Uganda. Located in east-central Africa in the Great Lakes region, the country is completely landlocked except for a portion of their border on Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria.

Near the end of 2016, our team was directly contacted by Richard Stanley from the 303 Development Group located in Staten Island, New York to discuss the possibility of a new multipurpose sports facility in Uganda. As a part of an expansion to the Allen VR Stanley Secondary School, the facility was in the process of planning a new indoor pavilion that would accommodate sports such as basketball, badminton, volleyball and many other events. The construction of such a facility would prove to be the first of its kind in the Republic of Uganda and one that had everyone very excited.

Sounds a bit crude, doesn’t it?

It’s a word we often use here in the industry and not surprisingly one that we often field a lot of questions about.

Given the apparent root of the word, many of those who have never heard it immediately think we are referring to either a rest room or a shortcut to one through a maze of aluminum seating. Truthfully, the latter isn’t terribly far off.

History of Vomitory

The original Latin translation from the word vomitorium was derived from vomere to be defined as “disgorging the spectators”. The definition became more defined through the mid 1700s when the first known use of vomitory was recorded and defined as “an entrance piercing the banks of seats of a theatre, amphitheater, or stadium” according to the good folks at Merriam-Webster.

Situated in northwestern Alberta, Grand Prairie lies roughly 450 km from Edmonton and makes up the southern portion of what is known as Peace River Country.

Introduced in the mid-1970s, the Alberta Games (then known as the Alberta Winter Games) were created to motivate Albertans to achieve a higher level of physical fitness through sport while showcasing the talent of local residents.

Each year a new host city is chosen in the province and last summer’s instalment was chosen to be held in Grand Prairie, celebrating Alberta’s athletes of all ages.

Working closely with our partners at Omni Sport located just outside of Edmonton, the City of Grand Prairie was interested in a completely new grandstand for the Alberta Games ahead of the summer of 2018.  

Located just west of Canada’s Capital lies the quaint and quiet village of Carp, Ontario. Anchored for years by historic Diefenbunker Museum, the small rural town has grown significantly after amalgamation with the City of Ottawa. Today the community retains its historic charm while offering residents charming restaurants, and parks along with a brewery and a vineyard.

As part of one of our most recent projects, we were commissioned by the city to design and install a unique set of stairways for use with some existing wooden bleachers inside the local arena.

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.