The “New” Lake Placid Olympic Museum

Where were you, February 22, 1980?

If you were like most of us, you were glued to the television, watching the USA take on the heavily favored Soviet Union in the semi final hockey event at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

Miracle!

USA 4, URS 3,  in what Sports Illustrated among many others believe is the greatest sports event of all time..

The scoreboard from that night still exists, and now hangs in the entry foyer of the recently redone Lake Placid Olympic Museum at the Olympic Center on Main Street in Lake Placid. The final score is still the same, frozen in time.

In town for skiing at nearby Whiteface Mountain, or just passing through the village, the Museum is a most- stop highlight of any visit to the area.

The highlight for most is the hockey game with artifacts on display, like uniforms worn by the American athletes and the full set of credentials from members of the team. Goalie Jim Craig”s pads and stick are there alongside the US net from the Russian game. But the main attraction is the on-demand video of the game which, although it happened more than 40 years ago, is still stirring no matter how many times you watch. The game replay, called by ABC announcer Al Michaels, is now in its own alcove in the museum. Expect the number of people watching at any time to spill over into the adjacent hallway as the final seconds of the “Do You Believe in Miracles” contest tick down.

But the museum is more than just the hockey game. The walking tour begins by highlighting the presence of winter sports activities in the Lake Placid area dating back to the 19th century. There is plenty from the original Lake Placid Olympics in 1932 that brought the Games out from being just a European festival and established the Adirondacks village as an international center for winter sports.

The story of the 1980 Winter Games  is told starting from Lake Placid’s designation as the host in 1974 up through the competitions six years later. Besides the hockey, highlights include the remarkable five gold medal in five speed skating events by Eric Heiden, the wall of Olympic posters, an impressive display or artwork from winter games throughout the years, uniforms from the Lake Placid games, especially the ubiquitous blue with yellow trim outfits worm by the many volunteers staffing the games, and pins that were actively traded on the streets of the village each day during the games. There are 784 different pins on the wall display.

Not all the museum features are static. There is a bobsled rigged to give a simulated ride to visitors, a visual recreation of a ski jump, and a sensory cross country skiing experience.

The original Olympic and Winter Sports Museum was created as a private, not-for- profit in 1980. It came under the public Olympic Regional Development Authority in 1994 and was granted tax exempt status in 1998. It was renamed the Lake Placid Olympic Museum in 2011.

The museum today is a contemporary showpiece. The renovation was begun in 2021 under the guidance of Buffalo-based  consultant  Hadley Exhibits, a more- than- 100 year old A-list firm whose credits include the 9-11 Memorial and Ellis Island Museum in New York City, the JFK Library in Boston, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. The  museum is now open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults, and $12 for those 7-19, or in the military.