Lake Placid Olympic Center
Home to two of the venues used at the Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1932, the Olympic Center remains a much-used sporting and events hub, and recently underwent extensive renovation. It currently houses the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, the 1932 Jack Shea Arena and the USA Rink.
The Olympic Center welcomed more than 114,000 visitors in 2022/23, when it generated revenue of nearly USD 3.5 million. It hosts hundreds of competitions, classes, camps, programmes and events every year, such as men’s and women’s college ice hockey championships and the ISU Grand Prix Skate America. The Center also played host to the ISU World Synchronised Skating Championships in 2023.
Its two Lake Placid 1932 venues are the 1932 Jack Shea Arena, which hosted figure skating, curling and ice hockey at the Games, and the James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval, the venue for speed skating, half of the ice hockey matches, the start and finish of the 18km cross-country event, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Both venues were also used at the Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1980.
The Olympic Arena is now known as the 1932 Jack Shea Arena, after the US speed skater who won two Olympic gold medals at the Lake Placid 1932 Games. It has been used by many US Olympic figure skaters as a training base over the years, and helped Lake Placid become synonymous with the sport in the 1960s and 70s. The oldest of all Olympic indoor rinks, it now hosts events such as the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships and the Miracle Holiday Classic – a youth ice hockey tournament held every December. In addition, it was one of several Olympic venues used for the 2019 International Children’s Winter Games. A popular community skating venue where classes and annual camps are available to the public, the 1932 Jack Shea Arena is also the setting for concerts, conferences and other public events.
The James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval had not hosted a major international ice sports event since 1990 until it hosted speed skating once again for the Lake Placid 2023 World University Games. It also regularly stages local, regional and national speed skating events. These include the Lake Placid North American Challenge, held over the marathon distance. As an outdoor facility, it is widely used by local schools, speed skating clubs and the local community for recreational skating, speed skating and ice hockey. The James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval was also a venue for the 2019 International Children’s Winter Games and the US Long Track Junior Championships held that same year. Renovated for the Lake Placid 1980 Games, when a new ice track was laid, it held several speed skating World Cup events and World Championships in the 1970s and 80s.
The Olympic Center is home to three other venues, all built specially for the 1980 Games: the USA Rink (formerly known as the Field House US Ice Rink); the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena (formerly known as the Field House International Rink); and the Lussi Rink, renamed the Conference Center in 2011. The Lake Placid Olympic Museum and the Lake Placid Hall of Fame can also be found at the Olympic Center, as can Miracle Plaza, the Miracle Moments Store and Roamers Café.
The Olympic Center’s venues were extensively refurbished as part of a USD 100 million project in preparation for the 2023 Winter World University Games, the first major upgrade of the facilities since Lake Placid 1980. These improvements included a major revamp of the 1932 Jack Shea Arena and the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, with new seating and aesthetic enhancements and upgrades to locker rooms, concession areas, hospitality suites and the 1980 concourse area, as well as new toilet facilities and a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the 1980 rink. A second ice resurfacing machine was also put to work on the Olympic Center’s ice.
The James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval had a new refrigeration system installed, among other upgrades, designed to ensure compliance with international competition standards. An open-air viewing deck overlooking the Oval was also built, while part of the convention centre was turned over to offices.
The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority was originally created by the state of New York to manage the facilities with the local community after the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.