Dick’s Sporting Goods debuts hands-on children’s exhibit in Binghamton
A new Dick’s Sporting Goods is being built in Johnson City.
It’s the largest of its kind, a sports house that towers high above the village, with a climbing wall that passers-by can see from the street and an outdoor track that doubles as an ice rink in the winter months.
There are others like this one, but across the river there is another Dick’s Sporting Goods being built whose unique miniature scale and hands-on learning elements exist only here, in the company’s hometown.
There is nothing for sale in this area, but every detail has been carefully crafted and packaged with one purpose: to help children and families grow and learn about sports.
The Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation and its Sports Matter program have partnered with the Discovery Center of the Southern Tier to bring children and families across the Binghamton area two new immersive exhibits, set to open to the public on Thursday.
Why the Discovery Center is the perfect place
A year after Kim Myers’ husband Tim Myers, a lifelong employee of Dick’s Sporting Goods 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 went to the Sports Matter Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to youth sports, in Tim’s honor, and Kim, whose father founded Dick’s Sporting Goods in 1948, had to decide where the money should go.
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She decided that the money went to the Discovery Center “so that as many children as possible can have a sporting experience that inspires them, makes them happy, gets them moving and reminds them of my husband Tim.”
After a year of planning, designing and developing, it’s finally time to share her family’s story in hopes of inspiring the next generation.
“I couldn’t be prouder”
Wearing a red apron spotted with paint, Ciara Heatherman selects a thin paintbrush from a cup of other paintbrushes of different sizes, and pauses for a moment to determine which part of the Washington Street Bridge mural that unfolds next to the entrance as to paint next.
A week before the unveiling, the Discovery Center’s artistic and visual design coordinator dips the brush into a container of dark green paint, decides to add to the bridge itself, and begins to paint over a thin white outline, the color of which contrasts with the bridge sky blue background underneath.
“I couldn’t be prouder of that,” Myers said.
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When you first enter the indoor exhibit, which Myers describes as the “Reverse Wizard of Oz,” you’ll notice the actual Dick signage floating above the entrance.
Just beyond, visitors are greeted with the original shop in black and white and an exact replica of the original Dick’s sign, where children can put themselves in Dick Stack’s shoes, buy bait and give change at a vintage cash register.
To the left, a 41-foot hallway shows a timeline of the company and family’s journey through photos and shadow boxes filled with memorabilia, beginning with the cookie jar Dick Stack’s grandmother gave him with the $300 he used to start his business.
To the right is a multisport simulator specially designed for two people to encourage socialization with other children and their caregivers.
Further inside the room, kids can hop in a boat with the same name as Kim’s dad’s – Fun Seekers – and fish for native species against a backdrop of local waterways and bridges. And in the middle a putting green for Tim’s love of golf.
Outside in the Discovery Center’s Story Garden, there’s a chipping challenge exhibit commemorating Tintin and a book. The pages tell the story of each club in a golf bag, how each one plays a role and together makes par.
It is a further expansion of the company’s family history, written by each of Kim and Tim’s six children and illustrated by Kim’s niece, daughter of former Dick’s Chairman and CEO Ed Stack.
“It’s very emotional for me,” Myers said. “I just smile at all my family members, like my father, my husband, people who aren’t here, and any family members who are still here and say, ‘Nice job, nice job’.”
How we got here
Nearly two years after Tim’s death, this miniature representation of the Binghamton story is of Dick’s Sporting Goods – from founder Dick Stack’s small bait and tackle shop on Court Street in Binghamton to the 13,000 square foot store opening this year on the north end of Oakdale to be Commons – has come together in less than two months, accelerated by the June tournament of Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.
“It was an accelerated build as we were just getting started [the previous exhibit] “It was a real labor of love for a lot of people,” said Brenda Myers, executive director of the Discovery Center.
Dozens of employees from Dick’s and the Discovery Center helped make it all come together. For Kim Myers, Dick’s Sporting Goods is in her DNA and these exhibits tell the story of her family, her mission and her deep roots in her hometown.
“The store didn’t fall out of the blue,” Myers said. “It failed, it started all over again. But my father always said to us children: You never forget where you come from. And this is where we come from.”
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