USA! USA! and debt.
New York State spent $200 million in an attempt to make Lake Placid, the home of America’s greatest Olympic moment, a winter sports destination. New York has landed events but it is hard to tell if the state will make any money on the investment. Lake Placid has hosted two Winter Olympics in 1932 and in 1980. A third Lake Placid Winter Olympics is unlikely. The town could not afford the 1980 money losing event. New York State did not necessarily want the Lake Placid venues but someone had to bail out the village. The New York State Legislature agreed to pay off the debt in exchange for ownership of the ski jumps, the Olympic fieldhouse and the speed skating rink with a new agency, the Olympic Regional Development Authority managing all of the Olympic sites. New York State residents were paying for the 1980 Lake Placid games by maintaining ski jumps, a speed skating rink and the fieldhouse.
There are 1980 legacies. The first ever chant of USA, USA was heard on February 22nd during the US-USSR hockey medal round game. The other debt. The US won the gold medal by defeating Finland two days later. But something happened to the Olympic Village along the way. It was converted into a different use and most people don’t really want to visit the still standing structure. The Olympic Village complex is a federal prison. The Village was designed to host 1,000 people. It was small and cramped. It was decided that the next life for the Olympic Village near Lake Placid should be a prison. Americans owned the place as President Jimmy Carter’s administration spent $22 million to build it. Officially it is called the Federal Correction Institute, Ray Brook and it does employs people. It is one of the few Olympic venues that has a lasting legacy.
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Ray Brook Federal Correctional Institution
