The state has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into revamping Lake Placid’s Olympic venues ahead of the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games, and the renovations are almost complete. ORDA Director of Communications Darcy Norfolk said that ORDA has invested $104 million into renovations at the Olympic Center alone over the last six years.

The center’s overhaul was originally projected to cost around $100 million. Norfolk said that construction supply chain issues and rising building costs over the last couple of years have impacted ORDA’s anticipated costs for the renovations. The project was also expected to include the construction of a new multi-level parking garage. That garage hasn’t yet come to fruition; the Adirondack Park Agency announced in March that ORDA would “indefinitely” postpone construction of the garage along with a previously-approved two-level addition to the southwest corridor of the USA Arena.

State Olympic Regional Development Authority CEO Mike Pratt led Delgado through the Olympic Center on Tuesday to check out the renovations alongside the center’s new general manager, Chadd Cassidy. Delgado walked through the 1932 Jack Shea Arena as a skater was gliding across the ice, then through the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, where hockey players practiced sinking pucks into the net. Delgado looked out over the James C. Sheffield Speedskating Oval from the Olympic Center’s new Miracle Plaza, the center’s guest area that will be host to dining and retail services and the expanded Olympic Museum.

“A lot of good stuff,” Delgado said as he browsed relics from the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Delgado added that he was excited to continue watching the progress of Lake Placid’s Olympic venues and for the arrival of the 2023 FISU Games.

Following the Olympic Center tour, Delgado stopped by Smoke Signals on Main Street and spoke to the state’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus during its annual retreat. This is the second year in a row the caucus has held its annual retreat in Lake Placid. Over the last year, according to a press release from Adirondack Council, the caucus has helped to secure $500,000 to design a new Survey of Climate in Adirondack Lake Ecosystems, $8.6 million for a new visitor management system for high-traffic wilderness areas of the park and the appointment of Benita Law-Diao as the first Black member of the Adirondack Park Agency board.

Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Delgado as lieutenant governor this past May after former Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin resigned from the position amid federal bribery charges. Originally from Schenectady, Delgado is the first Latino person to hold the statewide office.