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Arena In Luzerne County Celebrates 15 Years

WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP — It’s a big birthday for the Mohegan Sun Arena. It was 15 years ago that the arena opened up to a sold-out crowd for the firs...
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WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP -- It's a big birthday for the Mohegan Sun Arena. It was 15 years ago that the arena opened up to a sold-out crowd for the first Penguins game.

Before the arena was completed 15 years ago, you wouldn't have seen most of the businesses nearby in Wilkes-Barre Township. For the most part, this was all vacant land. It's that change people in the area say has been the biggest difference.

Nicole Neylon was just in high school when the arena opened. For the past six years, she's been working at Lucky's Sporthouse just down the road, most recently as the general manager. She's seen firsthand the change the arena has brought.

"Especially right here, right in this area, it's expanded quite a bit. We just got two brand new hotels behind us. Stores are opening up every five minutes. New restaurants are opening up constantly. So definitely a big boom in business," Neylon said.

When it comes to the arena that has hosted not only the Penguins but Elton John, Cher, and the Eagles, Neylon says the 10-year wait for the arena to become a reality was worth it.

"We definitely see a good impact, a lot more guests come in and dine before going in there. Usually an hour or two before a concert, we definitely fill up."

But if you remember, not everyone was on board with the $44 million project.

Whether to spend taxpayers' money on the arena project was put to a vote in 1995 with "Arena Yes" and "Taxes No" campaigns scattered across homes and in TV ads.

"It's the total lack of information that's coming out. We keep on hearing about the Frank Sinatra and the Neil Diamonds and all of this stuff but we're not hearing about how much it costs and who is going to pay for it," said John Gibbons, chairman of Taxes No in 1995.

Nowadays, people in the area say they can't imagine what life would be like without all this business that followed.

"It was a ghost town. There was nothing here, no buildings, nothing," said Harold Taylor of Forty Fort. "You would not see all the people hustle and bustle to the area. It's made a lot of business."

The arena is planning a $3.5 million expansion that includes a new restaurant and bar on the first level, and upgrades for the suites as well. The expected completion date of expansion and where's the money coming from is still unclear.

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