When a Park Needs More Than a Storage Room: A Concession Build for the City of Stratford

Most parks departments have the same problem: nowhere to sell, nowhere to store, and no structure that does both without looking like an afterthought. The City of Stratford's Community Services Department came to Backyard Escape Studios with exactly that problem. They needed a purpose-built sport concession stand at one of their park facilities in Stratford, Ontario, something that could serve the public through a proper service window while keeping equipment, supplies, and inventory secure in the back.

The result was an 18x9 Cube Shed designed from the ground up to function as a working concession stand. This was not a residential project with a few modifications. Every dimension, every opening, every material decision was made with a commercial sports facility in mind.

Charcoal Steel and White Shiplap: A Finish That Holds Up and Stands Out

The exterior combines two materials that work hard together. The sides and back are clad in 7/8" corrugated steel in Charcoal, a dark graphite tone that reads almost black in overcast light and softens to a warmer grey in direct sun. It holds its colour without painting, requires no seasonal maintenance, and takes the kind of contact and weather that a public park facility demands.

The front wall is finished in 1x8 white shiplap pine, painted a custom light grey. Up close, you can see the horizontal relief of each board. From a distance, the contrast between the white face and the dark steel sides gives the structure a two-tone profile that looks intentional, not pieced together. The dark EPDM flat roof ties both materials together with a clean, continuous edge that keeps the roofline sharp from every angle.

The Concession Window: A Roll-Up Shutter Built for Real Service Volume

The centrepiece of this build is the concession service window. A 60-inch black aluminum roll-up shutter spans the front-facing opening, which measures 36 inches in height. When the shutter rolls up, it opens a full-width service counter protected by a 12x68-inch pine bar ledge painted light grey. The ledge gives staff a proper surface to work from and gives customers a place to set down a drink or wait for their order.

Above the service window, a custom-built roof overhang extends 80 inches out from the front wall, supported cleanly without posts cluttering the counter area. That overhang covers the transaction space and protects both staff and customers from rain during a game or event. It is one of those details that only matters the first time it pours on a Saturday afternoon, and then it matters a lot.

A 36x80 steel slab inswing door with an enforced striker plate and deadbolt is positioned on the back wall. Staff enter from the rear, keeping the serving side clear and the interior secure when the stand is closed. Two fixed black vinyl transom windows, one on each side wall at 36x14 inches, bring daylight into the interior without compromising wall space.

Custom Commercial Structures for Sports Facilities Across Ontario: Starting in Stratford

Stratford is well positioned for this kind of project. The city has a strong parks infrastructure and an active community sports scene, with facilities serving minor hockey, soccer, baseball, and summer programming across Perth County. The City of Stratford's investment in a purpose-built concession stand reflects what a growing number of municipalities and facility operators across Ontario are starting to recognize: a well-built structure pays for itself through years of service without the maintenance headaches of a prefab or a repurposed trailer.

Backyard Escape Studios works with commercial clients, sports facilities, arenas, golf courses, and recreation operators across Ontario. We serve communities throughout Perth County and the surrounding region, including Mitchell, St. Marys, Listowel, and Milverton. Facilities in Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, and London have similar needs, and we bring the same design-build approach to every project regardless of scale. If your facility needs a concession stand, equipment storage structure, or a dual-purpose build like this one in Stratford, we can design it, build it, and install it in a single day.

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