SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The Olympic Regional Development Authority of New York has renovated its facilities to prepare for the 2023 World University Games thanks to a $240 million grant from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Among the new facilities are the Mountain Pass Base Lodge, a 3,000 square foot lodge equipped with a climbing wall and a biathlon range.
ORDA’s Elise Ruocco is thankful to the governor for the multimillion-dollar contribution to Lake Placid and cited the games as the main reason for the investment.
“Lake Placid is hosting the World University Games of 2023, and that’s why all the investment has been put into ORDA in preparation for those games,” Ruocco said. “It’s essentially a mini-Olympics. It’s going to be great.”
Among the renovated facilities are a biathlon range, improved elevators and gondolas with increased capacity. Ruocco also revealed that ORDA plans to add over five kilometers of new Nordic trails, as well as a massive winter stadium. The latter of the two is still being mulled over, but the Nordic trails will be open to the public by late November.
The renovations are not limited to improving sporting facilities; a 3,000 square foot lodge, named the Mountain Pass Lodge, will open to the public in November. The lodge includes a day lounge and even a rock climbing wall. Ruocco is excited for the grand opening.
“It’s a 3,000 square-foot base lodge that will have a rock-climbing wall,” Ruocco said. “The whole facility is brand new. It’s a state-of-the-art facility compared to what we used to have in the past.”
ORDA has received north of $240 million from the state of New York with a bulk of that money going toward park renovations. Ruocco and the rest of ORDA expressed massive gratitude for the governor’s contributions to the park.
Lake Placid has not hosted an Olympic Games since 1980; however, Central New York will host the University Games for the first time since their inception in 1993.
