The Kamin Science Center sits a javelin toss from Acrisure Stadium and a long sprint from PNC Park. And now, with the opening of its newest exhibit this Saturday, visitors to the Science Center can learn about the physics, biology and more behind football, baseball, track and field and many other disciplines.
Sports360 is the Center’s largest permanent exhibit — all-new and distinct from its now-shuttered Highmark Sportsworks. Inside the Center’s main building, on the North Side, patrons can try their hands (and feet) at two dozen interactive displays testing everything from agility and reaction time to their knowledge of nutrition, gear, training techniques and even sports careers for non-athletes.
“It’s designed to get people up, and get moving and get active, which is what sports are all about,” Center director Jason Brown said at a press preview Thursday.
The Science Center worked with all of Pittsburgh’s major pro sports teams to craft the exhibit, which is the latest step in a retooling that began nearly two years ago with a record gift of $65 million from philanthropists Daniel and Carole Kamin. The former Carnegie Science Center rebranded as Kamin Science Center this past fall. (It remains one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.)
Sports360 is the first of a planned nine new exhibits and experiences at the Center. Its grand opening Saturday includes the Family-Friendly Tailgate Celebration, featuring a DJ and mascots.
The 9,500-square-foot exhibit itself occupies what’s primarily been the Center’s gallery for large touring exhibits like “Pompeii: The Exhibition” and the recent “Mental Health: Mind Matters.”
Sports360 includes a display noting sports careers for non-athletes like statistician, team chef and videographer. A touchscreen display lets visitors design original logos.
Becky Thurner
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Carnegie Science Center
A exhibit styled after a locker room highlights the gear used by rock-climbers, fencers, cyclists and Paralympics athletes, as well as football, soccer, baseball and hockey players. Another station asks visitors to guess the carbohydrates, fats and proteins needed by a gymnast, volleyball player, distance runner and shot putter. Yet another seeks to educate visitors about the head trauma that’s become an increasing concern among athletes in contact sports like football.
At other stations, visitors can test their mental focus, reaction time and basketball free-throw skills. One enclosure is outfitted with a tee; visitors can pick up a baseball bat and knock the ball into a virtual PNC Park, where software computes the speed and distance of the hit. Another enclosure lets patrons grab a hockey stick, round up a puck and try to best a virtual goalie.
And in an artificial-turf-carpeted mock-up of the the NFL draft’s combine drills, visitors can measure their own agility, vertical leap and tackling power.
“We try and give something for everyone here whether you’re an athlete or not,” said Brown.
The Center’s next planned new exhibit is “Science of Speed,” a race-car-themed experience set to take over the former Sportsworks building on the Center’s campus.