Efforts to replace the former Ferris Boys & Girls Club of McKees Rocks with a new state-of-the-art facility geared to help area residents of all ages and abilities received a major boost this week when two major sports entities agreed to ante up in a big way.
The Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation and the Josh Gibson Foundation on Thursday announced a partnership that will result in the Dick’s foundation providing up to $2 million matching funds to help the Gibson group erect a new 3,700-square-foot facility at the old Boys & Girls Club site.
The facility will be known as the Josh Gibson Champions Club & Sports Matter Center.
The Boys & Girls Club facility, located off Deweyville Road, has been shuttered since 2020. In 2023, the Josh Gibson Foundation approached McKees Rocks about building a community center there to provide programming for youth, senior citizens and people with disabilities, but that plan – which would have saved much of the original structure — didn’t come to fruition.
The plans unveiled Thursday by the Gibson and Dick’s foundations call for a new structure but the idea behind it bears a strong resemblance to that 2023 plan in that it would promote the mental, emotional and physical well-being of children and provide programming for adults, seniors and those with disabilities.
Sean Gibson, the great-grandson of the former Negro League baseball luminary after whom the foundation is named, said Thursday the goal is to “tear the old site down and build a new building from the ground up.”
Gibson, executive director of the Gibson foundation, said no construction timeline is in place yet.
“We’re in the fundraising stage,” he said. “And you can’t predict the future on money.”
Gibson said the fundraising campaign would kick off in earnest early next year. He said if the fundraising campaign is such that the project has to be built in phases, that will happen. But the goal is to complete the building in one fell swoop and allow the Gibson Foundation to begin offering programming.
“It’ll be our building – the Josh Gibson Foundation will operate it,” Gibson said. “It will have a huge impact on the McKees Rocks community for sure, but it will also serve those throughout the Pittsburgh area.”
Gibson said it has taken two years for his plans to reach the current stage, and while the $2 million matching grant is a major boost, Dick’s investment goes beyond the money.
“Yes, they gave us $2 million but it’s more about the partnership,” he said. “They’re there for the long haul, from beginning to end. And once it’s built, they’ll still be involved with the Josh Gibson Foundation.”
Rick Jordan, vice president of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation, said his group was looking for a major investment in youth sports in the Pittsburgh area, and the McKees Rocks project seemed like a natural fit.
“We wanted to focus on an area where access for youth to play was limited,” Jordan said. “With the closing of the local Boys & Girls Club a few yeas ago, the community lost one of its few structured, safe spaces for kids to play, connect and learn.
“When we learned about The Josh Gibson Foundation’s vision to transform that same space into a new youth sports center, we knew it was exactly the kind of project that aligned with our mission.”
Jordan said the Dick’s foundation first learned of the Gibson foundation’s plans in January and since then the two groups have been working closely to move the project forward.
Jordan said the $2 million commitment is a matching grant, which means funds will be distributed as additional support is raised for the project.
“We believe matching grants are powerful because they encourage others to get involved and help build community momentum around the vision,” Jordan said.
To that end, the two groups received a $250,000 commitment from Under Armour to support the project. In addition, Under Armor said it would make sure that young athletes utilizing the new center will have access to the company’s latest baseball and softball gear.
Jordan said the Dick’s Foundation has supported several youth sports organizations nationwide, including some in Pittsburgh. But the $2 million matching grant is the largest grant ever given to a Western Pennsylvania organization.
“This project represents a significant investment in the community and our commitment to providing safe, accessible sports opportunities for kids where they are needed most,” Jordan said.
Gibson said the new center would have a basketball court, an indoor turf area, café and computer/education rooms. He said the Gibson Foundation would solicit input from the community to find out what people would like to see in the way of programming and emphasized the facility would serve people of all ages.
Gibson said the new facility also would feature the area’s first indoor field built to accommodate people with disabilities. Western Pennsylvania already is home to seven so-called Miracle League fields, which are built to give people with special needs a chance to play.
Robert Alexander, president of The Miracle League of Western Pennsylvania, said Friday he wasn’t aware of the project in the works in McKees Rocks. He said an indoor Miracle League-type field would be the first of its kind.
Alexander said he would be pleased to see such a facility in McKees Rocks, whether it was affiliated with his organization or not. “The more you can do for special needs,” he said, “the better.”
Gibson said he chose McKees Rocks as the location for this project because it’s close to where he grew up and that he was approached by a friend named Jimmy Lind, who has strong ties to the community and encouraged him to do business there.
“He reached out to me and talked me into coming back to McKees Rocks,” Gibson said. “That’s how it happened.
“I didn’t grow up there, but I grew up 10 minutes from there across the Windgap Bridge. I have family and friends in McKees Rocks, and the opportunity was available.”
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