The 1980 Olympic flame cauldron is seen on Aug. 16, 2022, with pots of flowers in front, livening up the site. (News photo — Andy Flynn)

We understand when town of North Elba Supervisor Derek Doty says that it’s “unattainable” at this time to pay for an ambitious plan to upgrade the 1980 Olympic flame cauldron site.

We could hear in his voice that the prospect of raising $1 million or more to develop a “welcome center” around the cauldron is daunting. After all, Lake Placid may be a worldwide draw for thousands of tourists every year, but we’re still talking about a government system here that is tiny compared to the big cities around the globe that have hosted the Olympics.

And compared to the state of New York, which has put hundreds of millions of dollars into the local Olympic venues for upgrades in recent years, the town of North Elba is still really small. They don’t have that kind of cash on hand for the cauldron site.

That’s why we need to work together to make this plan — or a similar one — a reality. With the community — and the state — rallying behind the North Elba Town Council, we can make this happen.

Minus a building, the plan calls for the cauldron — located between the North Elba Show Grounds and the Lake Placid Central School District athletic fields — to be the centerpiece of an attraction that would interpret the site and its importance to Lake Placid’s Olympic legacy.

Here is the inside of Lake Placid's 1980 Olympic flame cauldron, as seen on April 27, 2023. (News photo — Andy Flynn)

That’s really what we’re talking about here — having pride in Lake Placid’s Olympic legacy, which New York has embraced through the state Olympic Regional Development Authority. It’s ORDA that is the chief steward of this legacy, along with the town of North Elba — which owns a few of the Olympic venues — and the village of Lake Placid.

ORDA’s logo says it all. It’s a modern take on the Olympic flame — the 1980 Olympic flame, as the III Olympic Winter Games in 1932 at Lake Placid didn’t have a flame or a cauldron. The first flame for the Olympic Winter Games was in 1936 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Ground zero for Lake Placid’s Olympic legacy is here at the 1980 Olympic flame cauldron. Let’s not only take care of the structure; let’s celebrate it with a new interpretive park, making it a much more attractive attraction.

Today, the structure is dilapidated. The bricks around the base of the flame tower are falling down. The paverstone patio in front is overgrown with weeds. The whiskey barrel flower pots are falling apart.

For a community that prides itself on Olympic legacy, the site is an embarrassment the way it looks today. It’s downright shameful.

Here is a plaque on Lake Placid's 1980 Olympic flame cauldron, as seen on April 27, 2023. (News photo — Andy Flynn)

Luckily, improvements are on the way. The North Elba Town Council has appropriated $20,000 to rehabilitate the base of the flame cauldron, and hopefully we’ll see that done by the fall. Town highway crews have removed some of the overgrown cedar trees closest to the base. That’s a start.

Long-term, however, we need to celebrate this site properly. Let’s get behind an effort to raise money for the proposed 1980 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony Welcome Center.

We invite Gov. Kathy Hochul, Assemblyman Billy Jones, state Sen. Dan Stec and Rep. Elise Stefanik to visit the cauldron and see what needs to be done.

We implore them to allocate state and federal funds to help pay for this project. This site is not only important to the state of New York; it’s a place of civic pride for all Americans. Lake Placid is where the “Miracle on Ice” hockey game happened — during the 1980 Winter Olympics. It’s where U.S. speedskater Eric Heiden won an unprecedented five gold medals. And it all started here at the 1980 Olympic flame cauldron.

Let’s get behind North Elba and makes this happen.

Here is the front of Lake Placid's 1980 Olympic flame cauldron, as seen on April 27, 2023. (News photo — Andy Flynn)