LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (WCAX) – As the Winter Olympics start to unfold in Italy, Lake Placid residents are reflecting on their village’s moment on the world stage nearly five decades ago.
The 1980 Winter Olympics came at a critical moment in global history. Former radio broadcaster Sandy Caligiore remembers a nation low on morale as a cacophony of events gripped the world.
“Hostage situation, an oil crisis, low esteem in this country, recession, on the verge,” Caligiore said.
Decades after the village hosted the 1932 Games, officials were staring down a daunting task. Not only building new facilities, but bringing in tourists and athletes from across the world.
Months before the games, athletes had a chance to visit the remote Adirondack village.
“There is no Twitter or Facebook or anything. So, this little village, you were in a little cocoon in Lake Placid,” said Mike Eruzione, 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team captain.
“We spent some time here, you know, at training camp we had in August of that year, and we came back and played a tournament around the holidays, Christmas time, so you know we got to know people here,” said Jack O’Callahan, 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team defenseman.
Caligiore says he remembers Lake Placid teeming with tourists as they packed Main Street.
“They were just up and down the streets, in the shops, in the restaurants, but with no real housing here for spectators here, for the time the last event took place, you had to be on the last bus out of town or you were going to get stuck here,” Caligiore said.
Busing was a notorious issue for getting in and out of Lake Placid.
The games kicked off on Feb. 13, 1980. A week later, in the men’s ice hockey tournament, came a matchup with profound global implications: USA versus the Soviet Union. In a shocking turn of events, America triumphed over the defending gold medalists.
“The United States have upset the Soviet Union, I can’t believe it. This is a miracle, I can’t believe it,” Caligiore said during his live broadcast that day.
Caligiore was the only broadcaster in the United States to call the gold medal game live.
“They could send me to a Stanley Cup final, a Super Bowl, World Series, it is not going to matter, this is always going to be number one,” Caligiore said.
Longtime Channel 3 Plattsburgh bureau chief Jack LaDuke worked the games as the audiovisual director. But because of a credential mix-up, he was only able to see Team USA celebrating on the ice while people in the stands roared.
“Everything seemed to stand still and the crowd went wild. The cheering and the waving of the American flags. They were all doing it,” LaDuke recalled.
As the dust settled on an iconic Olympics, local officials began examining how the games affected their bottom line. Rev. J. Bernard Fell of the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee said at the time that the finance division did its job exceptionally well and the games would break even. But he said the long-term effect of having the games in Lake Placid and the sophisticated sports facilities may overshadow the short-term business receipts, and make Lake Placid a more viable recreation community.
Forty-six years later, that prediction came true. Hundreds of millions in state investments have kept Lake Placid at the forefront of international sports. And its notoriety from the so-called Miracle on Ice continues to attract people to the area.
“Since 1980, the economic impact has been significant, I mean, even up until Friday,” said Mary Jane Lawrence, the chief operating officer of ROOST.
“As a community, we are very grateful for everything that has occurred here,” Caligiore said.
It’s a moment in American history that people in Lake Placid say they are proud of and also want to add to, as they hope that one day the Olympics will come back to the Adirondacks.
