A day earlier, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the completion of the not-for-profit center’s nearly $7 million upgrade project.

“Let the games begin!” Project Director Peter Dimmig said on Jan. 6, standing outside the rink on Ampersand Avenue.

He said Civic Center members are excited to show the improved building to the world and urged locals to come watch skilled curlers from around the world compete during the games. He plans to be there himself often, saying he couldn’t miss a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Twenty teams representing 13 countries will compete in a “round robin” tournament style — meaning each team plays each team — in men’s and women’s divisions.

There will be plenty of seats. Dimmig said the new bleachers hold 520 people, twice what the old bleachers held.

“It’s going to be fantastic,” Kellie Krake, the curling manager for the games, said as she watched the ice making on Jan. 6. “I just can’t wait.”

The expanded 24,000 square-foot center now has 15,000 square-feet of continuous open floor space, six new locker rooms, a new heated and air-conditioned lobby, a heated second-floor mezzanine, new bleachers and a new ice plant.

Dimmig said a lot of work has happened at the rink in the last few weeks and Krake said that now, they still have a lot to do to prepare the ice and facility for the world of curling. The ice crew, experienced technicians from around the world, need to cover the rink’s hockey lines with white paint, put down layers of water, grind out circles for the curling paint and put in a field of play meeting the World Curling Federation’s configurations.

Curlers don’t compete on just any ice. The sport takes a specific ice surfaced with deionized water with minerals taken out to get more “pure” ice. While hockey is played on as smooth an ice surface as possible, curlers use a “pebbled surface” with ice beads so the stones have less friction resistance.

The rink’s new ice plant will allow them to meet the specific requirements of curling. Dimmig said the new, all-digital controls can be operated and monitored by Civic Center Manager Matt Wolter from his phone. He said the software keeps a record of all data — ice and air temperatures and humidity — to allow Wolter to fine tune the ice to be consistently the best it can and improve efficiency.

The rink also now has a dehumidifier to control humidity levels in the air to calibrate ice quality.

“As New York’s North Country welcomes visitors from around the globe for the World University Games, we have a unique opportunity to showcase our world-class competitive winter sports facilities with the upgraded Saranac Lake Civic Center,” Hochul said in a press release.

This renovation is the culmination of a long history of volunteerism. The Saranac Lake Civic Center was originally built in the 1970s to support youth hockey in the region. In 1989, Saranac Lake Civic Center, Inc. was created to take over the lease of the arena and to operate the facility.

“Since I was a young boy learning to skate, the Civic Center has fought every year for survival on the blood, sweat and tears of volunteers and generous donors,” Saranac Lake Mayor Jimmy Williams said in a statement.

When Lake Placid won the World University Games bid in 2018, the state Economic Development Council asked if the Civic Center could host curling. It couldn’t at the time, but after negotiations with the state, New York offered a 75% matching grant through the North Country Regional Economic Development Council to bring it up to snuff. The state pledged $4.5 million toward the $6 million original project cost, if Civic Center volunteers were able to raise the rest of the $1.5 million themselves.

As projects costs rose, the project was eventually supported by more than $5 million in Upstate Revitalization Initiative funds from Empire State Development, through the North Country Regional Economic Development Council. And the community raised over $1.8 million from more than 320 individuals, businesses and foundations.

Saranac Lake Civic Center Board Member Ollie Burgess said without Hochul, Empire State Development, the North Country Regional Economic Development Council and local supporters, the project would have never happened. He thanked them all.

The project got an early boost last year with a $500,000 gift from retired Goldman Sachs partner Barrie Wigmore and his wife Dee Dee, who have a camp here. There have been other big gifts, including $200,000 from Stewart’s Shops in October.

The project also got grants from the Adirondack Foundation’s Generous Acts fund, the Cloudsplitter Foundation, Community Bank and NBT Bank.

Hochul said the new Civic Center will also “bolster future generations of youth sports groups” and attract more events — weddings, trade shows and auctions. Dimmig said the center can now be used year-round. Before, it would get too hot inside during the summer.

The ice gets a lot of use, he said. It’s home ice for the Saranac Lake Pee Wee Hockey Association, the Saranac Lake Placid high school hockey team and the Paul Smith’s College Bobcats men’s and women’s hockey teams. It also hosts curling, public skates and the occasional Can-Am tournament.

“I cannot express what the Saranac Lake Civic Center has meant to our community for decades,” Williams said. “It has changed countless young lives for the better, and brought us all closer as athletes, proud parents and neighbors.”

Harrietstown Supervisor Jordanna Mallach said she is looking forward to “welcoming the world” during the games next week.

“And I can’t wait to get on the ice for Sunday afternoon public skating,” she added.

Demolition on the former building started in March, with volunteers doing much of the work and saving as many materials as they could to reuse. Luck Brothers Builders started constructing the new atrium and locker room additions to the building the next month.

The building now has a lift to make the second floor accessible to people in wheelchairs, with a glass railing to give a clear view of the ice.

The kitchen has expanded from more or less a snack bar to include more food options.

Six new locker rooms with their own plumbing mean athletes no longer have to use the public restrooms. As of Jan. 6, they still had that fresh locker room smell.

The center got its certificate of occupancy last week.

Krake said curling events will be supported by a coalition of local volunteers, including members of the Lake Placid Curling Club and some from around the country.