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Gymnasium use for a multitude of activities is on the rise, leading to a greater demand for proper and safe separation of these athletic spaces to maximize their functionality.

Whether your facility is in need of an upgraded divider for safety reasons or you are shopping for a new divider for an existing gym or new build, there are a number of factors to keep in mind during the planning process.

While relatively simple in design, their nuances can impact not only how the curtains themselves perform but also how they impact the functionality of your gymnasium as a whole. Here’s a few design elements to keep in mind before you purchase your next gym divider curtain.

The safety of a gym is only as good as the condition and configuration of the equipment inside of it. With a rash of unfortunate incidents over the past decade or so, a large cohort of facilities have been busy assessing and repairing or replacing equipment known to be the root cause a variety of safety hazards inside gymnasiums.

While much of these problems are overhead, such as ceiling-suspended basketball systems, light fixtures, and roof trusses, another large area of concern for operators are outdated dividers and partitions.

Many of these products were installed throughout the 1970s and 1980s and as one can imagine, leaps and bounds have been made in the design and development of such products since.

These existing partitions were often constructed using heavy materials and were rarely equipped with safety mechanisms such as two-key operation and sensors to detect obstructions when opening or closing.

As such, a large portion of what we do is assess the safety of these existing structures, which usually require replacement.

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.

Gymnasiums, once used solely for basketball games or gym class in public schools during the 1960s and 1970s are now becoming popular venues for social and community events. Over the decades, the large open space design of gymnasiums has been used as a makeshift setting for a large capacity banquet or an occasional awards assembly for the small local community. Fortunately, in the designs of today’s gyms, this multi-purpose concept has been embraced and modernized to accommodate an array of activities from sports and athletics to community events.

Making Your Facility a Winner

Whether you are interested in renovating and upgrading an existing gymnasium or creating a brand new one, solutions are available. With sports equipment, seating and lighting options available come in an array of designs ranging from stationary to foldable and even retractable, to allow space for other purposes. Gym divider curtains are also available to section off spaces for various events. Additionally, there is a wide selection of flooring options as well, all of which will help in making your facility a winner. 

Athletic programming is a crowded space. With more participants perhaps than ever before, facility owners and operators are always scrambling to not only offer cutting-edge equipment but to also ensure every inch of space is properly utilized.

When it comes to gymnasium equipment, the list is long and highly customized. With expansions in program offerings in educational and community-based facilities, the need for additional equipment is seemingly never ending.

For operators of busy facilities, the need for speed and automation is growing with each day that passes. When it comes to educational facilities such as schools, colleges and universities, the gymnasium is typically a heavily scheduled location, catering to a variety of programming and athletic competition.

Multifaceted spaces such as gymnasiums require multifaceted solutions when it comes to the right equipment. Whether it is seating requirements, sporting equipment, safety padding or properly dividing the space, chances are the solution that is right for your gym is going to be customized in one way or another.

When it comes to  gym divider curtains, this sentiment could not be truer. Deciding to divide your gymnasium is a great way to add another level of versatility to the space and take on additional athletic programming. Choosing a gym divider curtain, however, is not something that should be taken lightly.

Serving nearly 20,000 students in central Ontario, the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board(HPEDSB) operates 39 elementary schools and eight secondary schools throughout the region.

Several of the schools in the district have been in operation for many years, serving many students who are now working professionals. As such, some of the equipment located within those schools are dated and in some cases, dangerous for students to use.

One such location with a storied past is the Trenton High School. Located in the gymnasium of the school was a large and dated folding partition that had been used to separate the space for a number of years. While the partition did a great job fulfilling its purpose, the unit had become not only cumbersome to operate but downright dangerous.

Formed in 1986 through the amalgamation of Glenlyon School and Norfolk House, Glenlyon Norfolk School is one of western Canada’s premier university preparatory day schools.

Located in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, the institution has history dating back to the early 1900s and celebrated 100 years of education in 2013.

Today the school is made up of the Beach Drive Campus and the Pemberton Woods Campus. The Beach Drive Campus serves students from Junior Kindergarten ages to Grade Five and was originally reserved only for boys until 2003 when the campus welcomed female students for the first time.

The Pemberton Woods Campus, on the other hand, services students from Grade 6 through to Grade 12. While each campus has its own principal, the entire school is administered by the Head of School, Dr. Glenn Zederayko.

Following the Fraser River downstream of the Fraser Canyon, you will find the picturesque Fraser Valley of southwestern British Columbia. The fertile soil of the area accounts for over half of the province’s annual agricultural revenue and stretches into the metropolis of the great city of Vancouver.

It is here where one of our most recent projects landed us, more specifically, in the City of Abbotsford. As the largest municipality of the Fraser Valley, the city retains a good portion of its residents to work locally, rather than commute to nearby Vancouver. This among other reasons is perhaps why the Conference Board of Canada has identified Abbotsford’s economy as one of the most diverse in Canada.

Hitting the road again, our partners at Construction Proulx got us involved with one of their projects in the great province of Quebec. As part of this project in the small town of Amos, they enlisted our help to design and supply a highly customized divider curtain for a local school gym.

Taking accurate measurements at Ecole La Foret, our team was able to get the exact dimensions and specifications required for the project. The school was interested in one of our top-roll gym divider curtains for their maintenance-free and aesthetically pleasing design but had some additional requests for customization.