The Olympic athlete village in 1980 has become a prison

Holding the Olympic Games has a great influence on the regional economy, and it is known for major cities around the world to race a bid to race. However, after the Olympic Games closure, it is also important how to effectively utilize the facilities used for the competition, and in some cases you may suffer from a "negative heritage" without value. At Lake Placid in the state of New York, USA, which held the Winter Olympics in 1980, the accommodation facilities used by Olympic athletes are effectively used as "prisons".

The Forgotten Tale of How America Converted Its 1980 Olympic Village Into a Prison | Atlas Obscura
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-time-that-the-us-turned-an-olympic-village-into-a-prison

It was held in February 1980Lake Placid OlympicsWas held in the middle of the US Cold War, and the American representative of ice hockey got a dramatic victory against the Soviet delegation "Miracle on Ice (Miracle on iceIt was a tournament that reflected the world situation severely, such as being known by "). This was the second time the Olympic Games were held at the Lake Placid, and Lake Placid was known to Americans as a historic town that was hosted the Olympics in 1932 before the Second World War I will.


The Lake Placid ran as a substitute for the Olympic host city that Denver returned in 1976, but he failed. In the 1980 re-challenge held there was no competing city, so it was a spectacular second venue, but the problem was not ample budget. We reduced the budget by reusing facilities such as ice hockey hall and rink place which we used at the Olympics in 1932, but the problem is a player village that thousands of players coming from all over the world are staying for 2 weeks It was necessary to establish a clean, comfortable and safe facility at all times during the stay.


Of course it took expenses to construct the athletes village, but of course it was "post treatment" as to what kind of utilization roads will be prepared after the Olympic Games, which was regarded as a big problem. Regarding the utilization method of the athletes village, the plan to make it a joint housing, the plan to make it to a hospital, the plan to make it a permanent athletic gym, etc. were raised, but neither plan is not suitable for the town of 3000 in population size I got out of it. Meanwhile, the idea issued is to "reuse the player village as a prison".


Since the 1970s, the United States had a chronic problem of a shortage of prisons as crime increased. From 1969 to 1979, 24 new prisons were actually constructed to increase the number of houses capable of accommodation by 9,500, but that the treatment of prisoners should be improved from the humanitarian point of view that was raised in the US in those days It seems there was a need to establish a new prison for the opinion. Furthermore, the establishment of a prison also had a great merit of creating more than 200 employees "not knowing the recession" in a small town of Lake Placid.


There was also a disagreement against the idea of ​​diverting the Olympic facility to prison, demonstrating the phrase "Olympic Torch = Freedom, Olympic Prison = Slavery" (Olympic torch = freedom, Olympic prison = slave) It seems that the opinion that diversion to the prison is not compatible with the humanitarianism and celebration mood possessed by the Olympic Games was also strong.


In the room of the athlete village that is supposed to be played as a prison, a block is set up to cut the room after 8 feet × 13 feet (about 2.4 meters × about 4 meters) by later making walls, A small size window that can not pass was set up, and there were rooms with no window inside. Facilities such as disco, movie theater and concert hall were added to counter these strange styles, but it seems that two electric fences with a height of 11 feet (about 3.4 meters) surround the entire circumference It seems that it was impossible to wipe the prison like being installed at


At the Lake Placid where the attention of the public has not gotten after the closing of the Olympic Games, operation as a prison started as planned. The director of the Adirondack Museum asked the question of "Where can I watch the Lake Placid Olympic athlete village where I can go if I get from occasional visitors?" "We are against the federal government to visit the players' village I need to commit a crime. " Depending on the angle the Olympic Olympic mark sees, this director seems to be like handcuffs.