The venue is undergoing a makeover before it stages the curling events at the Universiade scheduled for January 12 to 22 2023.

There is set to be a mezzanine with box seats, a bigger kitchen, a new ice resurfacer, six new locker rooms and heat upgrades for spectators in the stands.

The first phase of construction is set to continue through the American winter and will focus on improvements off the rink to avoid disrupting ice time.

Civic Center project director, Peter Dimmig, said work is expected to finish in November 2022.

When Lake Placid won the events' hosting rights in 2018, the venue was not capable of holding the curling competitions.

After negotiations, the New York state Government offered a 75 per cent matching grant.

It promised $4.5 million (£3.3 million/€3.9 million) towards the development as long as Civic Center volunteers were able to raise the rest themselves.

So far, the community has raised $1.35 million (£1 million/€1.19 million) of the required $1.5 million (£1.13 million/€1.3 million).

It got a boost earlier this year as retired Goldman Sachs partner Barrie Wigmore and his wife Dee Dee gifted $500,000 (£376,737/€443,290).

The facility is currently used seven months a year, and Dimmig said they hoped to make it operational year-round with air conditioning to be installed for the summer months.