Throwback Thursday: Reporting from 2050, looking back at the year 2000

Fifty years ago, we entered the new millennium, the Y2K era. The internet was a new thing and
the iPhone wasn’t even born yet. What was Bowling Green like at the turn of the century? In this
week’s Throwback Thursday, we revisit what was going on in the Bowling Green of the year
2000.

The fact that our modern computers didn’t lose their minds and send us backward in time to the
Dark Ages was a pleasant surprise to many skeptics of the time. You see, the “new” computers
were very intelligent, sure, but their dates and time all started with a “19,” and some computer
scientists didn’t believe these machines would know what to do when the clock struck midnight
and we entered the year 2000. They thought we may have been sent back to 1900 instead,
given our computers the Y2K bug! But no, the machines kept going and we leaped into the new
millennium in Bowling Green.

Elden Renaud was Mayor and Mike Buchanon was Warren County Judge Executive.
Greenwood High School and Natcher Elementary School had only been open for 10 years. The
Aladdin’s Castle at Greenwood Mall was the local hangout place for teenagers on Friday nights.
A January issue of the College Heights Herald announced that a new 14-screen movie theatre
was coming to Bowling Green, called The Great Escape, this new theatre was state of the art.
Students could still enjoy the DUC Auditorium theatre showings of classic films like Casablanca
and Gone with the Wind. DUC was the Downing University Center, now Downing Student
Union. It will forever be DUC to several generations of Hilltoppers.

Speaking of the Hill, there was debate in 2000 as to the fate of the famous Diddle Arena. Would
there be a new build or a renovation? Renovation was the final decision, and the famous
midcentury modern twisted ramps that were the front exterior of Diddle Arena would be removed
soon. Within the next 10 years, DUC’s midcentury look would disappear too.
Smoking was still allowed in Bowling Green restaurants and bars in the year 2000. A Marlboro
ad could be seen directed at the students reading the Herald newspaper. And guess what?
Parking woes on campus were a hot topic, just like they continue today. The Bowling Green
media of 2000 were a bit more trigger hungry. The Herald printed arrests with names so you
could see who got that public intoxication citation last night. A campus commentary about the
evasive Poop Bandit that was leaving gifts all over campus was questionable.

Bowling Green tourism industry was certainly different 50 years ago. There was no SKyPAC,
BG Ballpark, Chaney’s Dairy Barn, or Historic RailPark. There was only Beech Bend Raceway
and Amusement Park. The National Corvette Museum was only 6 years old. Lost River Cave
turned into Nightmare Cave in October of 2000, with several jump scares and haunts along the
blue holes and into the cave dance floor.

Look at us now. Here we are, 50 years later in 2050. Wonder where we’ll be in another 50
years! Throwback Thursday is brought to you by the Kentucky Museum.
And for all of you in the real time 2025 watching right now, what would you like the future of
Bowling Green to be? Share your voice. Take the online survey at whatcouldbgbe.com now. In
Bowling Green, because local always matters, Telia Butler, WNKY News 40.