Evening star., 1932-02-02
VILLAGE OF $500
INVESTS S1,9)Q,O)O
Citizens Ultimately Nope to
Realize on Advertising.
Sports Open Thursday.
BY EDWARD j. NEIL,
Associated Press Sports Writer.

7 AXE PLACID, N. Y, February
2.-While the French, the
IL BelgianS and the Swiss set
tied down to final practice
on the bob run, speed skaters tore
around the stadium rink, skiiers
wandered through mountain trails
and all was well with the Winter
Olympic sports world, Lake Placid
ruminated today on the cost of
staging these international spec
tacles.
The financial mechanics behind the
grand show of the little New York vii
lage under the shadows of lofty Adiron-
dacK Mountain peaks are almost as
stunning as the sight of the ski jumpers
leaping gracefully off a contraption an
eighth Of mile high that looks like
a futuristic conception Of some new
form of suicide.
Village Invests 81 500, 600.
Lake Placid. village of $500, has
| invested almost 81, 100000 in this pano-
| rama Of mountains, lakes, snow and ice.
The State OF New York put up s500,000
for starter. The toWnspeople f1oated
s3500O0 bond issue, and every mer-
| chant, every citizen, in one way or an
other has contributed to the total The
bobSled slide, for instance, cost about
SZ25,OOO. The indoor arena, land build
| ing and equipment. set the natives back
S22O,OOO. The Olympic Stadium cost
! $4,000, the huge intervale ski lump
$4,000, and maintenance of these
| things runs annually TO about $50 900.
| IheSe are but part Of the $4,000 600
| total the tiny village has gambled in
an effort to establish itself as the Win
| ter sports capital of North America.
| Despite the sudden shift in weather
| conditions that had brought back nor
NAL zero temperatures and an abun-
| dance OF snow, there Is absolutely no
hope OF getting the grand total back.
| ana unless there is sudden shift of
interest there will not be returned even
| a dividend on this sum TO the hotel
keepers, shopkeepers, merchants
| The crowds have not come as vet
and with the start of the games set for
| IhurSday and program running
! through February 13, the citizens are
wondering if they ever will.
Advertising Is Beneficial,
| 1T is true" says Willis Wells. super
visor of the EIba township that in
cludes the village of Lake Placid, that
We will get very little financial return
on our investment this year. In the
long run, however, the town will be
benefited by the games, for it has OBJ
tained publicity that will attract both
Winter and Summer visitors here The
bobsled run and the arena will last
for a long time. They were built for
more than the two weeks of the games. 4"
| Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt will open
the Olympic ceremonies Thursday morn
ing with speech of welcome to the
300 athletes from II nations now reach
ing the peak of physical perfection un-
der ideal Winter conditions. The draw
for places has been made for the 81
! speed skaters who will start the racing
! series with the preliminaries of the
! 500-meter dash Thursday morning.
The United States has u entries in
, the series that includes 500, 1900 5000
and 10000 meter races. Jack Shea,
| Dartmouth College sophomore and a
/ local boy, son of the village butcher, is
the 500meter favorite, with Bernt
Evensen of Norway expected TO give
him the strongest opposition.