European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 3, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                At Lake Placid the costs Are soaring by Mary Fiess associated press he 1980 Winter olympics Are still 18 months away but the tiny Village of Lake Placid n.y., is already discovering that the staging of a human sized olympics is Many times More expensive More complicated and More difficult than it Ever imagined. Although one motto of these games is olympics in perspective the Overall costs have already zoomed from the initial projections of $80 million to nearly $150 million. And they could go to $200 million. Costs for the construction of new sports facilities and for the renovation of existing facilities May be double the original budget the administrative budget of the burgeoning olympic bureaucracy could end up to be five times what olympic organizers expected. This is a Sharp change from the situation of just one year ago when in the first flush of excitement Over the actual Start of construction for the games the organizers boasted about How construction was right on or even ahead of schedule As Well As on budget. Now virtually every project is running Over budget. A few projects Are As much As four months behind sched ule. And members of the Lake Placid olympic organizing committee Are increasingly reluctant to give any specific figures on what they Are spending. One of the committee s biggest fears is that Winter will arrive Early this year. That could shorten the construction season and throw one key part of the building program the ski jumps on which work has been halted for months so far off that the olympic games themselves could be jeopardized. The widening of the main Road into this Village a narrow winding two Lane Highway has been delayed by court challenges Over that project s environmental Impact. And policies that will most affect the thousands of potential spectators at the games Are still in the drafting stages. Organizers say it will take until this january for them to finish the plan for distributing the 440,000 tickets that will be made available to the general Public. Another 110,000 Are set aside for distribution to corporations and others which support the olympics. The question of How some 55,000 spectators a Day will be moved about a Village with one traffic Light has been studied for More than two years and there is now. A Gen eral plan to require extensive busing of people to an from the Sites of events. But organizers say the details of How to coordinate such movement have yet to be worked out. There s just a lot of Little problems creeping in says Vernon Lamb one of the Host of Village businessmen and sports enthusiasts who Laboured Long years to bring the olympics Back to Lake Placid. It seems unlikely that olympic organizers or the state and Federal governments which have already committed More than $70 million to the construction program would actually let anything Jettison the 1980 Winter olympics at this Point. Olympic organizers Are still confidently predicting As they have from the beginning that they will find the Money to meet All their expenses. But the Cost overruns and the worries of organizers such As Lamb Over the arrival of Winter Are measures of the difficulties plaguing this tiny Mountain Village As it moves closer to the february 1980 Date of the games. According to organizers the single biggest Factor pushing up construction costs on each and every project is the soaring Cost of labor and materials. At the Start of construction As Many As 20 companies would bid for a contract and most of the bids were right on or slightly below what was budgeted. Now partly As a result of a general upswing in construction activity else where some projects have attracted no More than one for americans who with about 560 athletes will be the largest single non soviet contingent participating in the 1980 games. A new $100-million terminal being built by a West German firm should ease the pain of passing through customs and immigration formalities which now can stretch out into a two hour ordeal at antiquated Sheremetyev Airport. Whether the agonizing Waits in line at restaurants and refreshment stands is something else that can be eliminated is less certain. The coca cola co. Won a contract last Spring designating it As official supplier of soft drinks at the games according to Starodub. What this Means is that athletes and officials will be Able to get Coke to drink at the olym Pic Village. \ but by next May the company will be allowed to Start a production line in Russia for its fanta beverage. Vending machines probably will dispense fanta Coke and even the russian kvass not Only in the Village but also at most of the Spectator areas around the City. As for Quick food definitely not a soviet specially Mcdonald s of Canada has been in Moscow trying to get a franchise. There is a Rumor that the company soon May be allowed to set up a demonstration unit in downtown Moscow with hamburgers but without yellow Arches. At the olympic Village seven of the planned 18 residential buildings already have been finished. A Crew of Shock workers from All Over the country is being urged on by such signs As let s build the polyclinic with excellent Quality work the Village is far from downtown and probably will strike its inhabitants As isolated. It is however in the heavily populated Southwest Moscow housing project  Young construction workers from Tbilisi the Capi Tal of soviet Georgia said they had been working there for two months. Well be Here until 1980," one of them said. They promised we d be Able to bring our families with us he complained but we re All by  special signs will guide tourists in Moscow for the olympics. The 1980 olympic Symbol is at upper left. Sunday september 3, 1978 bid and most of the bids Are Well above what was budgeted. The Way construction people work is if they re hungry they la bid Low. When they Are not they May still bid but they have Dull pencils says David Bochnowicz who is the Federal government s super visor of the project. Several projects however have their own special circumstances pushing up costs. And no project better Illus trates the unanticipated problems that have slowed construction and sent costs soaring than the 70 and 90 meter ski jumps. At this stage in their construction the unfinished ski jumps look like two giant Concrete towers jutting incongruously out of an Adirondack Hillside. That is essentially the same Way the jumps have looked for a year. Work on the project came to a virtual halt this Spring after the bankruptcy of the company handling the jumps complicated steel work. A replacement firm Dominion Bridge co. Of Montreal is currently slated to begin building the in runs the sipping extensions off the towers Down which the skiers will Speed this month. But because All the work must be performed in the open bad autumn weather or an Early arrival of Winter could create new obstacles. And because the project is so far behind schedule workers will be required to work lots of overtime pushing up costs even More. Federal officials say the projected Cost of the jumps has risen from $2.8 million to $4.5 million. The ski jumps Are an especially worrisome Point to organizers because they must be completed this year. The International olympic committee requires that All facilities be used once in an olympics level Competition before the actual olympics. That Competition is scheduled for late  is unclear what the penalty is if Lake Placid fails to fulfil that requirement. But the growing financial Burden became Clear Early in August. After months of rumours about mounting Over runs the Lake Placid olympic organizing committee finally announced it would need an additional $18 million to $20 million from the Federal government above the $58 million already appropriated to cover the Cost Over runs and other unanticipated construction costs. The state has already committed $12 million to improving ski trails at Whiteface Mountain and refrigerating the bobsled run at it. Vanhoevenber. It Likely will be expected to increase its contribution by another $7 or $8 million. There was a note of irony in the announcement of the Village s need for More funds. Ever since the Village was awarded the games in 1974, organizers have pledged to hold a no frills olympics one that was scaled Down from the spectacular Media events of recent years one that focused on the athletes. But in announcing the need for More Money the Rev. J. Bernard fell the organizing committee s executive director said there should be no  olympic officials have yet to release a Complete break Down of Why and for what projects the extra Money is needed. One reason May be the desire of local organizers to take fullest possible advantage of Federal Money to give even existing facilities a Complete Facelift. For example the existing olympic Arena built for the 1932 Winter games was originally supposed to get some minor modifications. Now organizers want a new roof for the Arena. Only the Federal economic development administration which is funnelling the Federal funds for the olym pics has revealed its estimates of Cost overruns. The construction budget once pegged at $70 million and now estimated at $110 million could climb to $140 million the Eda thinks. But potentially the most trouble some deficits according to Eda estimates could occur in the Ever expanding administrative budget. Federal and state funds Are financing the construction of new sports facilities and housing for olympic athletes and renovations of existing sports facilities. Organizers think the construction Cost overruns will be covered by those same  the construct on budget does not cover a number of other olympics related needs and expenses ranging from the furnishings for the olympic Village to the uni forms for timers and scorekeepers and the salaries of the increasing number of people working for the Lake Placid olympic organizing committee. In 1976, the organizers projected a need for $11 million to handle administrative preparations for and the actual running of the games. In 1977, the projected budget was $20 million. Now organizers admit to a need for at least $50 Mil lion while Federal officials say the administrative budget could run As High As $60 million. So far the committee says it has raised $23 million some of it in contributions of goods and some through Selling such things As television rights and the use of olympics symbols. Another $10 million or More is expected to come from the Sale of  Wilkins a local real estate agent who Heads the marketing committee says there could be a deficit of be tween $12 million and $25 million. The stars and stripes Page 11