Spark JC, the company that operates the renamed ‘”Oakdale Commons,” was given a budget of over $100 million to finance different development projects through 2025. The end goal is to revitalize the property, according to Marc Newman, co-founder of Spark JC. The revitalization includes the addition of a Panera Bread and Chipotle, as well as a Dick’s House of Sport — an extension of the Dick’s Sporting Goods store that includes a batting cage and a rock wall to allow product testing on-site. A parking lot and general site improvements will also be included, with the goal of being finished in the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024. Construction has already commenced, and the establishments are expected to all open by fall 2023.

After the Oakdale Mall faced foreclosure in 2019, Spark JC bought the property with plans to facilitate new businesses, create jobs and restore the popularity of the space. The company received payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) funding approved by the Broome County industrial development organization. Martin Meaney, the mayor of Johnson City, said people may have doubts about this process, but encouraged community members to consider the end goal of the project.

“Without PILOTs, development is awfully hard and if we don’t have people coming in who are looking to develop in our area, buildings sit idle,” Meaney said.

Newman emphasized the significance of converting what was the former Macy’s space into a Dick’s House of Sport. At 140,000 square feet, it will be Dick’s Sporting Goods’ largest store yet, located in the southernmost portion of the mall. In addition to the batting cage and climbing wall, the storefront will also house a turf field and an outdoor track that has the ability to turn into an ice skating rink come winter.

Meaney also discussed the significance of Dick’s choosing to build its largest storefront in Johnson City.

“Dick’s started here,” Meaney said. “Store number 001 is on Court Street, so it’s kind of nice to see them stay rooted where they were founded.”

Newman outlined the projected economic benefits the project will bring to the community, including the creation of new jobs and the increase in the sales tax base that Spark JC expects to see in the next few years. Newman also explained his belief that the development of the mall will be beneficial for other local businesses throughout Johnson City.

“Outside of the mall, they may decide to go shopping at Wegmans or Weis, or have dinner at one of the local restaurants,” said Newman. “This gateway site is just key to the whole redevelopment.”

Newman and Meaney expressed similar sentiment, and said that the name change and rebranding of the mall is multi-use, and will revitalize the old mall into a space that will not be solely retail.

“It’s going to make it a destination again,” Meaney said. “It’s not going to be someplace where people are just going to zip in, grab an article of clothing and grab a burger. It’s going to bring people in and they’re going to want to stay, you know?”

Newman said these tenants are the beginning of an extensive list of businesses that Oakdale Commons hopes to welcome to Johnson City. Newman said he sees the project as a commitment to the community.

Many BU students said they’re looking forward to the remodeling of the mall. Jolie Kwok, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said she thinks the renovations are long-overdue.

“It is no secret that Binghamton lacks entertainment hubs and it definitely would be nice to have more activities to do on the weekends besides romanticizing a Target run,” Kwok wrote in an email. “Glad to see that in a year, it will just be a bus ride away.”

Isaac Mak, a freshman majoring in computer engineering, expressed excitement to see the mall take on a new identity, especially with the addition of Dick’s House of Sport. Mak described how it reminded him of some other malls across the country that market attractions to their customers, in addition to retailers and restaurants.

“I think that mall would be pretty cool,” said Mak. “It’s like the American Dream mall in New Jersey, and I think that would be pretty cool here upstate.”

The panel gave students the opportunity to have an open discussion about their campus jobs, as well as the expectations, responsibilities and working environments that come with it, according to the YDSA’s Instagram. Students in attendance took turns sharing their personal experiences working at BU, which included things they enjoy, dislike or wish they could change about their jobs.

One such attendee was John Ferrara, who serves as a tutor for the University’s Tutoring Services (UTS) and the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), and is a sophomore majoring in biology. Ferrara said he applied to be a tutor because it was fulfilling to help people with the same things he once struggled with. He added that he likes that EOP focuses on helping underprivileged students.

Hudson Jakubowicz, also a UTS tutor and a junior majoring in biochemistry, agreed with Ferrara, and said the job has its benefits.

“I like being able to set my own hours and just interacting with the students,” Jakubowicz said. “They make the subject fun, because something like chemistry can be a dry subject. Being able to have some discussion with them just makes the session better. It’s something that keeps me engaged and that I enjoy even though it is technically my job.”

However, Ferrara and Jakubowicz also said they wished they were paid more for their services. Ferrara mentioned that there are times when more people than expected would show up to his tutoring sessions, and that getting paid minimum wage for those uncertainties was like “a slap in the face.”

In search of better pay, Jakubowicz said he has considered becoming a private tutor but decided being associated with the University was more valuable.

“I also like to be affiliated with the University because that means that professors and other people can recommend me to their students,” Jakubowicz said. “Whereas if I was a private tutor then I’d only be able to work with people who have the means to get my services, and that is not something that I would enjoy.”

Jakubowicz added that the University often treats student jobs as educational opportunities, rather than focusing on the reasons students need the jobs in the first place.

“I just think the mentality around it ignores the fact that a lot of these jobs are one of the ways that people are trying to pay one of their biggest expenses, which is being able to attend this college,” Jakubowicz said. “Some recognition that we are taking these jobs to be able to pay for this school is something that would go a long way.”

Additionally, some students expressed a desire to have a say in what gets written into their contracts. Noelle Dutch, chair of the YDSA, an organizer of the event and a senior majoring in political science, added that many job descriptions do not include the fact that supervisors ask more of their employees than what is mentioned on the contract.

“I just wish that we were at the table to make some of these decisions about our own jobs,” Dutch said. “I guess just even getting to be in the room and to come up with a contract that kind of says what part of our role is [enough] because anything our supervisor asks of us is also our role.”

Dutch said it was important to the YDSA to be able to hold events for student workers to talk freely and [to] recognize how important they are to the campus community. The YDSA will be hosting an educational follow-up meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 20, to discuss workplace communication and organizing, according to their B-Engaged page.

“A lot of our jobs are fundamental to the functioning of the school,” Dutch said. “Having students building awareness around their jobs is also really important and just being free to express how they feel about their jobs, whether it’s something positive and they absolutely love it or maybe they have complaints they haven’t been able to air before. I think providing a safe space for that is going to be super beneficial to the morale on campus and of student workers.”