The Best Seats
In The House

The University of Ottawa is the largest English-French bilingual university on the planet, comprising over 100 acres of beautiful real estate in Canada’s capital. Originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848, the university has grown to become one of the country’s most respected educational institutions.

Donning the garnet and grey, the Ottawa Gee-Gees and their respected athletic program consistently provide a high level of competition and play. With 29 varsity teams to its credit including a fiercely respected football team, the University of Ottawa has the athletic prowess to match its academic prominence.

Up until 2013, the Gee-Gees football team did not have a home field on campus, instead using outside locations such as the Varsity Oval (1881-1953), Landsdowne Park (1954-2011), and Beckwith Park (2012), before construction was completed on Gee-Gees Field in 2013. Situated along the 417 highway which cuts directly through the city of Ottawa, the new stadium provides the team with excellent exposure. We were fortunate to have been awarded the contract to design and build the grandstands that are located in the new stadium as well.

Located around 30km outside of downtown Toronto, one of our recent projects took us to the beautiful city of Markham, a part of the Greater Toronto Area. As the largest city in the York Region, Markham is home to close to 400,000 residents and is home to a number of scenic pathways and outdoor spaces.

With a revitalization project in the works, our team was contacted to help ensure the safety of residents in the area at Morgan Park, one of the city’s most popular recreational spaces. As part of the revitalization, the city undertook a massive renovation to the park’s pool and surrounding area. In addition to the pool, the park is now home to a new children’s playground as well as sports fields such as baseball diamonds.

During the design phase, it was immediately apparent that the new playground scheduled for construction was potentially in harm’s way from the big bats playing under the lights of the community baseball fields.

When it comes to keeping balls, pucks and other projectiles in play, nothing compares to a sound netting system. While some needs and requirements can be complex in nature and design for locations such as multi-use sports fields or professional applications (we do that too!), we also supply ready-to-use netting solutions for everyday use.

Outside of custom netting solutions, our netting kit is one of our most versatile netting solutions. Without letting the small packaging fool you, these netting kits are the perfect solution to the majority of netting needs in both residential and industrial applications.

Located in the east end of Canada’s Capital is one of the city’s newest recreational facilities, boasting state-of-the-art facilities and a variety of programming for local residents.

The François Dupuis Recreation Centre is located in the east Ottawa community of Orleans and aims to serve the community as a one-stop-shop for residents’ fitness needs. The new facility features a 25-metre, six-lane pool as well as a leisure pool and a dry sauna. Additionally, there is also a convenient fitness and cardio centre equipped with high-tech fitness equipment with the programming to match.

While we aren’t talking about any current Major League hitters when it comes to community baseball diamonds, we are talking about the big bats of the future. As such, with many community organizations or municipalities, keeping balls in play and out of creeks, lakes, parking lots and crowds is always priority number one.

This was the case in one of our more recent projects in the west end of Ottawa. Located within city limits, the small village of Fitzroy Harbour is situated along the Ottawa River at the confluence of the mighty Carp River. This small village is one of the last stops on the west Ottawa border and is also home to Fitzroy Provincial Park, servicing outdoor enthusiasts since 1963 amid century-old white pines and 200-year-old bur oak trees.

Constructed in 2004, the Bell Sensplex serves as the official practice facility for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators hockey club. Built in partnership with the City of Ottawa, the 180,000 square foot facility boasts three NHL-sized ice surfaces, one Olympic-sized ice rink and an indoor fieldhouse and additionally serves a number of minor hockey leagues and short track speed skating clubs in the greater Ottawa region.

We were recently contacted by stakeholders from within the Sensplex organization with questions regarding some safety netting for the Olympic-sized rink inside this community-focused athletic facility.

Built in 1993, Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Stadium was originally constructed to house the Ottawa Lynx of the International League.  With staggering attendance numbers through the inaugural season, the stadium and team set league attendance records averaging nearly 10,000 fans per game.

When it comes to baseball, anyone who has played the sport will tell you that practice makes perfect. A multi-faceted sport for participants, baseball requires players to maintain cardiovascular health, field ground balls, catch pop flies and swing the bat at 90 MPH fastballs when required.

Training for such a sport is intensive and when it comes to batting practice, there is no such thing as too many swings. While getting a few friends together to throw the ball around casually is one way to sharpen your skills, those who really want to excel in the batter’s box enlist the help of professional equipment.

During practice or even at home, the use of batting cages for aspiring or current baseball players is a prerequisite for success. Spending more time in the cage staring down fast balls from an automated pitching machine is a sure-fire way to get better with a bat in your hands.

One of America’s favourite and most beloved pastimes is the game of baseball. Invented in historic Cooperstown, New York during the mid-1800s, the game has evolved and is enjoyed by millions who both watch and play the game across Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

In the world of 100 MPH fastballs and the bats to match, player safety is of obvious concern, particularly during recreational play and practice. Once solely reserved for those playing in the “big leagues,” today’s baseball organizations are becoming increasingly aware of player safety and are quickly outfitting ball diamonds with the proper equipment to protect players of all ages.

While batters are required to wear helmets, those standing on the pitching mound, infield or outfield are often left relatively unprotected. While during game play, the eyes of players are concentrated on the ball, during organized practice, there are often numerous activities taking place.

Dating back to the late 1800s, the modern game of tennis as we know it has seen the countless volleying of hollow rubber balls by rackets strung with cord as it has developed over the years. Officially governed by the International Tennis Federation for over 80 years now, the game has grown from play on the lawns of great British estates to the international stage where it resides today.

In addition to its popularity, accentuated in the past two decades by players such as Roger Federer, the Williams twins and many others, it offers participants and fun and cardiovascular exercise, with more tennis courts across North America than ever before.

As a game traditionally played in the great outdoors, having the right equipment has been of paramount concern. With Mother Nature’s ability to cloak courts with rain, sunshine, heat, cold and snow at any given time, the netting used for the sport has been developed to both withstand the elements and the test of continued play.