ORDA overhaul of Lake Placid a boon to teams
Nearly $300 million in improvements over past 3 years aid U.S. squads
Its storied history secure, this world-famous Adirondack village is moving quickly toward the future with massive renovations and upgrades of the venues used during the 1980 Winter Olympics.
According to statistics provided by the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), through New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s annual budgets, the state has invested a total of $297 million in capital improvement funding between 2019 and 2021. This year, ORDA received $92.5 million for capital projects at its Olympic sites. While some of the venues have long needed to be updated, the impetus for the
makeovers was to have them ready for the World University Games, which Lake Placid will play host to in January of 2023.
The multiple projects, at the site of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games, also include the development of more attractions for tourists: notably the zipline at the Jumping Complex that opened in July 2020 and a gondola to the top of the jumps; and the Cliffside Coaster and wheeled bobsled rides at Mount Van Hoevenberg. ORDA was formed by the state to manage the facilities built or improved for the 1980 Olympics and also runs the state-owned ski centers: Whiteface Mountain, Gore Mountain and Belleayre.
On International Olympic Day, June 24, ORDA unveiled some of the newlook venues. Many of the athletes, coaches and officials who participated used “game changer” to describe how the improved facilities will impact their sports.
For the first time, the
U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation has a refrigerated indoor push-start track and an indoor sprint track at the multi-sport sliding facility at Mount Van Hoevenberg that can be used year-round.
USA Luge received $5 million from the state to completely re-make and double the size of its 30year-old refrigerated indoor start track and improve its national federation headquarters on Church Street.
A 30-point biathlon shooting range and paved roller-skiing loop for warm-weather training was built at what was once a parking lot at Mount Van Hoevenberg between the sliding and cross country skiing venues.
The ski jumps were upgraded and are certified for staging international competitions.
New refrigeration units were installed at the 1932 and 1980 indoor rinks — including the one in Herb Brooks Arena — at the Olympic Center and the connecting building is being overhauled.
The outdoor Olympic Oval where Eric Heiden won his five speedskating gold medals in 1980 is being completely rebuilt. The Oval’s cost of $14 million is part of the $100 million that will be spent on Olympic Center properties on Main Street.
Meanwhile, the village of Lake Placid is spending $10 million to improve the infrastructure — water mains, sewers, sidewalks and streets in the main downtown business district of Main Street and Saranac Avenue. Most of the work on the village’s projects has been paused for the summer tourist season and will resume after Labor Day.
Both ORDA and the village are aiming to have all the improvements completed before the World University Games begins its 11-day run on Jan. 12, 2023. The festival is scheduled to bring 2,500 athletes, coaches and officials to the region. Ashley Walden, executive director of the Adirondack Sports Council, said it will be the largest multi-sport international event in New York’s history.
Lake Placid will host a luge World Cup at Mount Van Hoevenberg in December and the U.S. Biathlon National Championships in March 2022. Two other major international events are scheduled: the Synchronized Skating World Championships in March 2023 and the 2025 Bobsled World Championships, which were postponed from this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lake Placid is the home of the now locally funded Empire State Winter Games and most years is the site of a bobsled and skeleton World Cup.
Mike Pratt, the ORDA president and CEO since 2017, following 30 years working at and managing Gore Mountain, has overseen the revitalization work that has touched every venue in and around Lake Placid. He said that on a personal level it was “just tremendous” to be at the center of such an important endeavor in his hometown.
“We are doing things that very few people in the world get to do,” Pratt said. “We’ve got a real passionate staff that has worked very hard on maintaining the 42-year-old infrastructure and making it work. Now that we get a chance to try to help design what the next 42 years are going to be like, we’re looking at it all with the stakeholders’ point of view, from whether it’s maintenance staff or the elite athletes or the event management or the spectator or the recreational enthusiast or the community. It’s all coming together.”
The centerpiece of what ORDA said is a $74 million investment at Mount Van Hoevenberg is the Mountain Pass Lodge. The 55,000 square foot, threelevel building has dining, gift shops, meeting rooms, and space for a media center, drug testing, and other competition-specific needs. It is the home to America’s only refrigerated bobsled and skeleton start track, as well as the sprint track and an extensive weight room. Other capital improvements at Mount Van Hoevenberg include snowmaking and the additional development of cross country ski trails, the shooting range and updated refrigeration at the sliding track.
“The biggest philosophical change with this transformation was the commitment to have year-round facilities,” Pratt said. “It’s not only for the elite athletes.”