It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena — now rechristened the Northwest Arena — opened its doors in downtown Jamestown.

Construction of the arena was one of the capstones of the city’s much-discussed plans to redevelop the west side of downtown Jamestown. The arena has seen a lot of success in its two decades. Major national figure skating events have been held on the ice rink’s surfaces and, for those who drive downtown at night, parking can be tight around the arena when the area’s hockey players take the ice for practices or games. Legendary musicians have performed in the larger of the arena’s two rinks, as have professional wrestlers in house shows as the WWE and TNA were traveling to bigger cities in the region for weekend shows. More recently comedians like Kevin James and Jerry Seinfeld have graced the stage at the arena for National Comedy Center events.

Old buildings in the area were razed. New buildings have gone up. Existing buildings have received expensive facelifts. Even the arena itself is in the midst of a facelift with the addition of The Zone, an area for youth to engage in physical activity.

You can hardly recognize nor remember what the area looked like before construction started on the arena. And while we can be wistful for the way things were, it’s hard to argue that the Northwest Arena hasn’t been a benefit for Jamestown. In fact, if there is one thing that we should all be wistful for these days is the feeling of energy that permeated downtown during construction of the arena. There was a palpable buzz as the streetscape changed, as buildings came down and cranes came in to erect the steel substructure of the ice arena. Even when there were disagreements over what exactly should be placed where or how certain pieces of land should be used, the project generated an excitement that we haven’t felt downtown in a while. Projects have felt smaller. Even the National Comedy Center project involved little major exterior construction or major changes to the way downtown looks.

Downtown’s west end looks a lot different in 2022 than it did in 1992. Looking back at how things used to look makes us wonder what projects will arise that generate a similar level of excitement?