It was the dawn of the megaresort. With the opening of The Mirage in 1989, Las Vegas shifted its center of gravity, moving from the blinking-neon downtown to the pirate-ships-and-erupting-volcano Strip, a few miles south.
The result was a boom unlike any the city had seen. Soon a single intersection on the Strip, with a casino on each corner, boasted more hotel rooms than the entire city of San Francisco.
Bigger and better ruled the day, as Bellagio, New York New York and other megaresorts opened, each trying to outdo the last.
This is the context in which the Ralph Engelstad Arena arrived in Grand Forks.
By 2001, Engelstad's Imperial Palace had been a landmark on the Strip for years. That's the grandeur Engelstad poured into his Grand Forks arena, which opened 10 years ago today.
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That's the dazzle that makes "The Ralph" the premier venue not only in Grand Forks but also the entire state.
And that's why the arena has had such an outsized -- and upbeat -- influence here.
For Grand Forks, like most North Dakota cities, had been a Garrison Keillor place. It was Lake Wobegon writ large, modest and unpretentious and primly reserved.
Then, along comes Engelstad with $110 million and a Las Vegas sense of showmanship and style.
The result was just ... wow.
There's no other word for it. That's the word visitors utter when they first see the building, which looms up over the prairie like the mother ship from the planet Hockey.
That's the phrase people repeat when they go inside and see the leather seats, the granite floors, the LED displays and the laser show.
And that's the expression that best sums up the atmosphere at a men's hockey game, too. When fans jam the arena and fill every seat, as happens at almost all home games; when the governor, senators and other North Dakota luminaries network and shake hands from suite to suite; when the Fighting Sioux score a goal, and the place erupts with literal fireworks and a volcanic roar -- well, at those times, the word on 11,000 lips is, "Wow!"
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Followed very often by a murmured, "Thanks."
As in, "Thanks, Ralph and Betty, for this Vegas-sized entertainment venue right here in Grand Forks."
There are other effects, too. Chamber president Barry Wilfahrt notes a great one in his letter on this page: The Ralph's presence helps Grand Forks residents think big. We think big in terms of philanthropy now, as the built-by-donations Choice wellness center shows.
We think big in terms of national-class achievements and attractions, too, including King's Walk Golf Course, the Greenway, even Grand Forks' leadership in the high-flying unmanned aircraft systems field.
There's still a lot of Lake Wobegon here. Grand Forks residents still would fit in at the Chatterbox Cafe.
But there's this whole other element now, too. It's part Hollywood, part show biz and part spectacle, all rolled into one. It's the grandest building in the region and the hottest ticket in town.
And on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the fall and winter, its spotlights split the sky.
No murmurs here; just a straight up, "Thanks." Thanks, Ralph and Betty, for your transformational gift. Grand Forks is a more exciting place because of it.
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-- Tom Dennis for the Herald
