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Originally founded as a non-denominational evening college to serve veterans returning from World War II, Carleton University has since blossomed into one of Canada’s most respected post-secondary institutions.

Located in the heart of Canada’s Capital, the university now serves over 31,000 students on its picturesque campus bounded by the world-famous Rideau Canal to the north and the Rideau River to the south.

Over the years, we’ve been privileged to have partnered with the school on numerous occasions and have watched it grow over in tandem with the lovely city we call home. In addition to outfitting a number of other facilities on campus with equipment over the years, we were honored to have been selected to completely redesign and install the school’s grandstand bleachers as well.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is the largest school board in Eastern Ontario and the seventh largest by school population in the Province of Ontario. With a heavy presence in the Ottawa region and close to our corporate HQ, we naturally are fortunate to do a great deal of business with this particular board.

Spanning 143 schools, it is no surprise that we have long-established relationships with key stakeholders not only from the board but also from many of the individual schools as well.

In addition to a number of upgrades performed in the latter portion of 2019, we were asked to visit three schools here in the Greater Ottawa Area that were in need of folding partition replacement. Given the often unsafe nature of outdated gymnasium dividers, it is often the mandate of schools and school boards to have these systems replaced well ahead of any problems that might surface over time with repeated use.

Nestled high in the great Canadian North, the Northwest Territories is an expansive swath of land covering nearly 1.1 million km².The remote landscape is made up of forest, mountains, tundra and a number of islands dotting Canada’s Arctic archipelago.

In the central region of this vast Canadian Territory lies the city of Yellowknife. As the only city in the territory, the province’s capital resides along the northern shores of Great Slave Lake.

It was here where we were invited to participate in one of our most recent projects. As part of the Yellowknife Education District No. 1, we were invited to Sir John Franklin High School located in the eastern portion of the city. In search of a replacement solution for an outdated partition, our team was brought in to assess its current condition and provide a long-term solution to the gymnasium’s separation needs.

As part of a mandate from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the largest school board in Eastern Ontario, we were again invited to participate in a safety-focused project. As with any piece of aging equipment, there are times when replacement simply makes the most sense and when it comes to outdated folding gym partitions, this is often the case.

These bulky structures, often installed decades prior, can become unsafe and in some cases, have proven to be fatal for students and participants. In the interest of safety, schools across North America are painfully diligent in maintaining and inspecting any of these active systems. When it is recommended that they get replaced, most don’t delay in getting the right team on-site to begin the process.

Working locally here in the Ottawa area, we were involved in another exciting project with the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB). Covering an area of roughly 2,900 square kilometers in the National Capital Region, the OCSB is home to over 4,600 staff members and operates a total of 85 institutions including 69 elementary schools, 15 high schools and one intermediate school.

As part of some sweeping upgrades to a number of the schools under the board’s management, we were invited to scope a unique project for a couple of the schools not far from our headquarters.

As is common in many aging educational facilities, some of the athletic equipment previously installed inside the gymnasium can become deemed unsafe for use by students and staff members.

One area of great concern and one which we have years of experience in handling is the demolition, removal, and replacement of outdated partition walls used to separate athletic spaces, mainly in gymnasiums.

Named after one of the most prolific Canadian writers of the nineteenth century,François-Xavier Garneau, the École Secondaire Catholique Garneau follows this historical Canadian’s lead on continuing to develop French Canadian culture.

Located in the east of Canada’s Capital, the school’s motto revolves around the words of Michael Montaigne who said, “The gain of the study, it is becoming better and wiser.” Today, École Secondaire Catholique Garneau invites students to engage in a perpetual momentum of improvement, progress,and wisdom through the pursuit of knowledge and excellence.

Headquartered just south of Canada’s capital, the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO) proudly offers quality Catholic education and programming to students across the eastern regions of the province. Blending specialized learning opportunities, athletics, and faith, the school board is committed to social justice and serves as the board of nearly 40 schools in Ontario.

One of the most common safety risks in gymnasiums across North America today is undoubtedly outdated gym partitions. These massive dividers were commonplace in most gymnasiums throughout the 80s and 90s but with the development of new technology, improvements in design and additional safety mechanisms, they are quickly becoming dangerous relics of the past.

On the west-end of the Island of Montreal lies the City of Kirkland. This small suburb serves as a residential community close to the hustle and bustle of downtown Montreal. Originally incorporated as a municipality in 1961, Kirkland was merged into the City of Montreal in 2002 becoming a borough before eventually being re-constituted as an independent city in January of 2006.

The City of Kirkland approached our team in September 2018 as they were looking to secure product and pricing information for a pair of top-roll gym divider curtains as they prepared the 2019 city budget.

After a couple of in-person visits by our installation team, we promptly provided detailed pricing and specifications which aided us in providing the best possible solution for their needs. 

When it comes to your school or local gymnasium, much of the activities that take place on the court are athletic in nature and make up the majority of the time and energy spent in the space. For many facility managers and operators out there, getting bogged down in the day-to-day can sometimes get in the way of ensuring that these types of athletic spaces are working for us as well.

The fact is, your gymnasium should also serve your facility, be it a school or community centre, as an additional source of revenue. While this is common sense to many, there are a number of ways you might not have thought of that can contribute to your operation’s bottom line.

Rock and roll, bell bottoms, free love and extremely heavy folding gym partitions are just a few characteristics of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. While the former are relatively unthreatening, the latter has become one of the biggest safety concerns athletic facility operators face today.

After serving the purpose of dividing a space for a number of decades, the fact that many of these antiquated systems are still in operation today pose a variety of safety risks to both operators and participants.

Designed using heavy materials and often with not enough horsepower to operate them, these outdated gym dividers have made unfavourable appearances in the media over the past two decades, having caused a number of of injuries and even some deaths.