We were once again called upon to solve a familiar challenge faced by many schools across North America. In the case of outdated folding partitions installed to separate gym space many years ago, they often become expensive to maintain, unreliable for daily use, and in some cases even pose safety concerns.

Mother Teresa High School in Barrhaven, Ontario was in such a position and needed a smarter, more economical way to divide their gymnasium space while keeping the flexibility required for multiple classes and activities. Replacing the old folding partition with a new one would have been disruptive and costly, likely leading to the same maintenance issues in the future. Instead, the school turned to our team for a better long-term solution.

Working just down the road from our beautiful headquarters, we got the opportunity to take part in the development of a brand new educational facility. While we are not involved with the heavy-duty construction elements of a job like this, we were invited to participate in outfitting the gymnasium space with some brand new and state-of-the-art equipment.

After selecting a fairly comprehensive sports equipment package, our team was on-site and planning for this new gymnasium as part of the expansion of the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO) here in the Ottawa area.

At Sport Systems Canada, we’ve been proud to collaborate with our trusted dealers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for nearly a decade now and the team at Interior Visions continues to impress us with their dedication and expertise to every project we collaborate on.

When Truro Middle School in Nova Scotia needed to replace an aging, non-operational gym divider curtain, our partners at Interior Visions responded immediately. They recognized the importance of restoring full functionality to a space that supports active learning and athletics for hundreds of students every day and quickly brought in our team to come up with a solution.

When our sales team gets a call to replace a gym divider curtain located nearly 4,500 kilometres away, we don’t hesitate, we instantly collaborate. Thanks to our strong network of local Dealers across the country, we’re able to deliver seamless projects from coast to coast and this project was no exception.

Located in the beautiful Fraser Valley, the Seabird Island Band is a proud Indigenous community with a strong focus on education, wellness, and youth development. The Seabird Island Community School serves as a hub for learning and recreation, not just for students, but for the entire community. Like all educational facilities, the school’s gymnasium is an essential gathering space for athletics, cultural events, and community programming so ensuring that it is operating efficiently is always top of mind for operators.

Located in the close-knit community of Norwood, Ontario, just east of Peterborough, Norwood District High School is a cornerstone of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (KPRDSB), serving students with a strong emphasis on both academics and extracurricular activities. The school’s athletics program, serving as home to the Norwood Knights, includes competitive teams in volleyball, basketball, badminton, and soccer, fostering school spirit and teamwork. The school’s gymnasium is a hub for these activities, hosting practices, games, and community gatherings, making efficient use of space a top priority.

In yet another instance of a recurring issue faced by aging institutions, a local school board found itself at an impasse with its aging folding partition. The once-functional partition, responsible for dividing the school’s large gymnasium into separate areas, had reached a point of disrepair.

Years of constant use and wear and tear had taken their toll on the folding partition. Its once smooth operation had become a thing of the past, replaced by a frustrating series of jams and other malfunctions. The financial burden of maintaining and repairing the aging partition had finally come to a point where it made little sense to continue with the dated partition.

Serving as a state-of-the-art fitness facility located in the heart of Mississauga, Lifetime Fitness was established in 2012, and was the organization's first location in Canada. Since then, the company has aggressively grown in both Canada and the United States and we’ve been fortunate not only to help launch the Mississauga location, but also their Ajax and Vaughn locations as well.

During the launch phase at the Mississauga location, we had helped them with a large gym divider curtain that was still in place, but had been taking a beating as of late. Knowing exactly who to call for their gym dividing needs, their team once again picked up the phone and reached out to us in search of a possible replacement.

We are quickly becoming known as Ontario’s go-to provider when it comes to not only removing old and outdated gym partitions, but replacing them with state-of-art dividers as well. As concerns around safety continue to swirl around schools and other facilities that still have these old partitions in use, school boards and facility managers keep a keen eye on the condition and operation of these now antiquated pieces of equipment.

Located in south-central Ontario, the Chippewas of Rama First Nation has long been known as a caring and community-focused area. In what is often referred to as ‘the gathering place’, the Chippewa territory has developed exponentially over the years and is showing no signs of slowing down.

In the spring of 2024, the strong and resilient community of the Rama First Nation reached out to our team to help them improve the athletic space in one of their many community-focused facilities. The multi-use community centre also serves as the gymnasium for one of the local schools and, as such, was in need of something that would help them continue to expand program offerings. 

As sports equipment and infrastructure specialists, one of our main goals is to promote safety through our product offering. Whether it is ensuring that a new set of bleachers  is completely up to code or the adequate amount of padding is used in a gymnasium, we’ve always got our eye on safety.

When it comes to larger equipment items such as gym dividers, it’s an area we tend to pay a great deal of attention to. Many school gyms across North America are equipped with some sort of divider for large gymnasium spaces and in many of those cases, those systems have been in place for a number of years or even decades.