Former bar, currently a gift shop, to be razed to make room for expanded entrance to Olympic arena complex
By James M. Odato
An iconic log structure will be razed to make way for an expanded entrance to the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, in the form of a pocket park, potentially with some major statues, under a $2 million state plan approved on Friday.
The Olympic Regional Development Authority’s board voted to purchase the property and building that houses a retail shop called There and Back Again at 2640 Main Street. The building dates to the 1930s and for many years was a watering hole called the Arena Grill, a favorite of Lake Placid locals.
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Olympic Authority officials for years have desired the property, as it sits within the compound that has become the downtown complex of the authority, whose arena center has been renovated in recent years. It is in front of the ice arena at 2634 Main St.
Authority CEO Ashley Walden said the idea is to raze the building for an improved gateway to the Olympic Center. The site would become a green space where ORDA may place one of two giant Olympic ring statues it wants for the village plus a life-sized bronze statue of the Miracle on Ice hockey team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid at the adjacent arena.
In addition, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant parking will be added at the site, Walden said.
She said ORDA has been in negotiations for years on purchasing the property, which has seen its appraised value increase 49% from 2021 to 2025. ORDA Chairman Joe Martens said the purchase price is a bit more than $1 million and is in line with the current appraisal.
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Property owner Mary Anne Hawley, owner of several downtown retail businesses, declined to discuss the deal, but said the building has a unique history and it will be missed.
She purchased it in 2003 and renovated and expanded it, finding original log beams and one piece of timber stamped as being from the Carnegie railroad. The building had been built by her husband’s descendant, Clark Hayes, a colorful Adirondacker from Bloomingdale known to use putty for tooth fillings. He hauled logs from trees harvested at his farm to build the structure on Lake Placid’s Main Street around the time of the 1932 Winter Olympics in the village. It was a basket/sporting goods shop that sold fishing licenses.
Eventually it became the Arena Grill, owned by Matt Devlin, a cousin of the current village mayor, Art Devlin. The mayor said he is thrilled that ORDA is purchasing the building and improving the gateway to the Olympic arena. “It’s great that it’s finally happening,” he said.
Hawley said that ORDA has desired the property for decades. She said the state tried to buy the building before the 1980 Olympics, but Matt Devlin refused.
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She said it was so jammed with customers during the 1980 Games that it was nearly impossible to get in without connections.
Hawley, who moved to Lake Placid in 1970 to train as a figure skater, said she has heard numerous stories from people who had socialized at the grill in the past, many of whom met their future spouses at the one-time nightspot.
“This is kind of a bittersweet decision,” she said about selling the place. “I want to simplify and focus energy on some other projects.” She also owns Imagination Station, Lucky Ducks and the Life is Good store in downtown Lake Placid.
Fond memory of the original Arena Grill from the night of the 1980 ‘Miracle’ hockey game when the USA beat Russia. I was there watching it live on CCTV that had been put in Lake Placid by a Canadian company so locals could watch the Olympics (TV Orto, I think). The screaming came through both walls into the bar. The TV wasn’t HD but the experience certainly was.