Dick’s Sporting Goods debuts hands-on children’s exhibit in Binghamton

In Johnson City, a new Dick’s Sporting Goods is being built.

It’s the largest of its kind, a House of Sport towering high above the village, with a climbing wall passersby can see from the road and an outdoor track that will double as an ice rink in the winter months.

There are others like it, but across the river, another Dick’s Sporting Goods is being built and its unique, miniature size and hands-on learning elements exist only here, in the company’s hometown.

There’s nothing to purchase in this space, but every detail has been carefully crafted and packed with a purpose: to help children and families grow and learn about sports.

The Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation and their Sports Matter program have teamed up with the Discovery Center of the Southern Tier to bring two new immersive exhibits to children and families all throughout the Binghamton area, which are set to open to the public on Thursday.

Two new Dick's Sporting Goods exhibits have been permanently added to the Discovery Center in Binghamton. A rendering of the indoor one, shown here, depicts a replica of the original store, a putting green and multi-sport simulator.

Why the Discovery Center is the perfect place

A year after Kim Myers’ husband, Tim Myers, a lifetime Dick’s Sporting Goods employee and “heart and soul of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open,” died in July 2021, she was faced with a decision.

A number of donations came pouring into the Sports Matter Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to youth sports, in honor of Tim, and Kim, whose father started Dick’s Sporting Goods in 1948, was left to determine where the money should go.

House of Sport:Dick’s Sporting Goods to build its largest store at Johnson City’s Oakdale Commons

The money, she decided, belonged at the Discovery Center, “so that as many children as possible could have some type of sports experience that might inspire them, make them happy, get them moving and remember my husband, Tim.”

After a year of planning, designing and development, the time has finally come to share their family’s story with hopes of inspiring the next generation.

Ciara Heatherman, the Discovery Center's artistic and visual design coordinator, works on one of the hand-painted murals inside the new Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation exhibit at the Discovery Center.

‘I couldn’t be more proud’

Donning a red, paint-speckled apron, Ciara Heatherman selects a thin paintbrush from a cup of others of…

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