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A look back at the history of the Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township

As the arena celebrates 25 years of success, not everyone was as hopeful in its initial days.

WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Twenty-five years ago, abandoned strip mine land was transformed into what's now a landmark in Wilkes-Barre Township.

"A whole generation of Northeast Pennsylvanian's were raised knowing nothing else but that this building existed," said Wilkes-Barre Township Councilman John Jablowski.

Since the doors of the arena first opened in 1999, more than 15 million people have sat in the seats of the Mohegan Arena. The first concert was announced, with Neil Diamond taking the stage.

 "It's like watching a miracle come true there were so many days where all of us thought it might never happen," said an arena official in an interview with Newswatch 16 back in 1999.

Fast-forward 25 years later, excitement around the arena is still building, with the entertainment venue celebrating it's 25th anniversary. State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski was there on day one of the arena's opening, as a parking manager.

"The transformation is because of the people. The people that worked hard, the people that believed in this facility. And again reality is demonstrated that it was worth that effort," said the Represenative. 

But, the venue wasn't exactly a hit with everyone.  

"You're asking them to take a vote and they don't know what the cost is going to be," said John Gibbons at a council meeting back in 1999.

Many people asking at the time were questioning, who was going to foot the bill for the arena.

The federal government chipping in $20 million for something that the majority of the people in this country don't care about," said a Talkback 16 caller during that time.

The initial investment was around 20 million dollars by the state to build the arena. However, it's hard to put a dollar amount into how much money the venue has bought in over the past 25 years. But if you take a look around, Wilkes-Barre Township has become quite the economic hub. Most of the current businesses are sitting on what was vacant land when the arena was built.

"We have the arena, we have our baseball team, we have Mohegan sun casino, we have beautiful hotels and apartments and we're revitalizing the whole area. This place here has a great deal to do with that whole revitalization," said Pashinski. 

While this land looks much different than it did just 25 years ago, Wilkes-Barre Township officials say they're looking forward to keeping the music and momentum going for the next 25.

"People want a quality of life, and it's not about my job, it's about my life. And how in our quality of life do we bring that to our community? We've done that very successfully here," said Jablowski. 

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