I banged the drum for an arena in the Inland Empire for, oh, 20 years. OK, almost 30, while working as sports editor and columnist at The San Bernardino Sun. Going back almost to the day in 1981, I believe it was, when the pilot of a small plane had a heart attack while flying over San Bernardino and the plane plunged to the earth … and right through the roof of the Swing Auditorium on the grounds of the National Orange Show. The Swing was condemned, torn down, and there went the IE’s one semi-serious indoor sports/entertainment venue.

After a variety of idle speculation and even one or two semi-serious attempts … we finally got an arena. In Ontario. Officially named Citizens Business Bank Arena.

The arena opened back on October 24 with a Lakers exhibition game (yes, Kobe Bryant played) before a capacity crowd of 10,800-some, but I was in Hong Kong by then, and didn’t return to the country until three weeks ago.

So, it was with great anticipation that I drove into the parking lot of the arena on Friday night … and with great disappointment, a few hours later, that I left it.

Before I get into specifics, let’s all agree that the IE desperately needed its own multipurpose, indoor entertainment center and it finally has one. Huzzah.

And thumbs up to the city of Ontario for making it happen, for having the foresight (thanks Greg Devereaux, city manager) to buy up at dirt-cheap prices hundreds of acres of the old Ontario Motor Speedway, selling them off at great profit and using that money to build a venue that cost $150 million or so. San Bernardino and Riverside never got it done.

Now, anyone who lives east of Kellogg Hill can make the shorter drive to Ontario to see professional hockey and all sorts of touring shows, from Metallica to the Harlem Globetrotters to the Lipizzaner Stallions. Generally at prices cheaper than they could expect to pay at venues such as the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles or the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Another big plus: Parking is free. Astonishing, right? Just drive in and find a spot. No money changes hands.

But now we come to … the “big buts” … in the sense of “this would be even better BUT …”

–This is an ugly building. There is just no escaping it or denying it. The architect (Rossetti Architects, based in Michigan) should be smacked around. Look at the photos on the arena’s Web site and remember: These are the most flattering views they could find.

I have no idea what “look” they were going for here (snow-capped mountains with a blue sky above?), but it failed, miserably. The arena is primarily white and looks as if it could be just another of the big warehouses of the IE. Except with more parking. It is awkwardly angular, thunderously plain and jarringly unwelcoming. It asks you to climb a batch of stairs to get to its one semi-redeeming feature, the southeast corner, which has lots of glass at what is apparently the main entrance.

But to approach this arena from any other direction (particularly from Haven Avenue; that is, from the west) is to wonder which building might be the arena and why it looks so little like an arena. Couldn’t it have incorporated some curves? Could it not have afforded more exterior lighting? Why can’t it be more gay, more colorful, more eye-catching, more inviting?

–The arena suffers from visual clutter. It is just one of a bunch of “big-box” structures in the area, and not as tall (or as snappy) as several office buildings just south of the place. The arena is impossible to see from  Interstate 10, even though it is barely a mile north of it, unless you take a quick look up the narrow corridor (from the freeway to the arena) that Ontario thought to leave undeveloped. (And don’t try this while you’re driving, please.)

Anyway, while doing 55 mph, you can look north (from the passenger seat, please) and have about two seconds to see this boxy clump sitting north of the freeway and make out the words CITIZENS and ARENA but not so much BUSINESS and BANK because the latter two words are in smaller letters.

So bottom line: The city’s $150 million arena is as invisible as a 10,000-capacity arena can be. It does not stand out. At all. And $150 million is a lot to spend on a place that probably hundreds of thousands of commuters on the I-10 have yet to notice.

–This thing ought to have been right on the I-10. This is a component of the complaint above. Right smack on it. With big lights making it blindingly obvious to anyone passing by that right here is where the Inland Empire’s premier venue sits. And a big fat marquee flashing all the “coming events” in bright neon lights.

–It is rather a hassle to get to the arena, even as close to the I-10 as it is. If you approach it from the east, especially, and exit the 10 at Milliken, expect to lose 10-15 minutes on the offramp and at the stoplights as you crawl north to the street the arena sits on. The main reason they don’t charge for parking? Because the city understands that to take even $1 from every car, and make change, would slow access to the arena to the point that a crowd of even 5,000 would lead to a massive traffic jam backing out to Haven and Milliken.

–Now let’s go inside. My criticism here can be summed up as follows: I know you wanted to keep costs down, but did you have to make it so painfully obvious?

This looks like a building put together on the cheap. The concession stands, the restrooms, the entire concourse … and right on into the plastic seats in the arena practically shout “lowest bidder.” There is nothing “luxe” about the place.  No, the IE shouldn’t go all glam like Staples Center; this isn’t a Hollywood-style venue or locale. But to go for a Fastfood Modern look … it’s just depressing. And this is while it’s still all new and semi-shiny.

–I don’t like the short bank of stands on the west side. I know they were thinking of a Staples-like “sit and eat” area on the main level, at the end of the floor where the bands will set up. But at a venue that is about half the size of Staples, it seems like too much precious space to take away from seating and devote to a not-quite-really a restaurant.

The one semi-interesting part of the building? Something called The San Manuel Club, named after the Indian band from San Bernardino who have taken their gambling revenue and become tycoons in the last decade. The San Manuel Club is behind a guarded door on the north side of the building, and it is at least cozy and vaguely ornate. (Not that the regular crowd will ever know.) What struck me as a bit annoying about the club is that getting in gains you nothing except … getting in. You still have to pay for your food and drink. Not very clubby.

–I don’t know how they managed it, but an arena that seats 9,000 for hockey somehow seems less than intimate. I didn’t know this could be done. Rossetti Architects, come back for another spanking.

–The hockey club is, oh, only vaguely professional. You don’t have to be a connoisseur of pucks to recognize that the Ontario Reign (I hate that name, too; but I’ve been on record with that for a year) represents the lowest level of pro hockey in the country. The skill players are tiny and the few guys with size are clumsy, and that’s why they are playing at this level of hockey.

In theory, they are closer to the “bigs” than are the California League ballplayers in nearby San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga, but those guys look far readier to jump into a major league lineup and have a shot at competing than would the Reign’s guys, if they were parachuted into the NHL. Another sports tenant, and a more compelling one (this is not exactly hockey country, guys), would add to the arena’s sports appeal. (How is that NBA Development League franchise coming? And arena football, maybe?)

–The sound system. I can’t say this is good or bad because a hockey game doesn’t really give an indication of what a concert might sound like. A classical music show (the Johann Strauss Orchestra) coming up June should be the acid test. Maybe we will get lucky and the sound will be great.

So, yes, end of the day: I am ecstatic that the IE has its own arena. It took far too long to happen, and now that it finally has, it absolutely improves the quality of life of everyone in the area — because it gives local residents so many more entertainment options so much closer to home.

I applaud the foresight of Ontario, which dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on the imaginery document confirming it as the Capital City of the IE, now that it has the airport and the arena and Ontario Mills Mall.

But the execution! The arena could have been done so much better, and it is that missed opportunity that rankles. Presumably at little more cost, in the exterior, and at perhaps only incrementally greater cost, in the interior.

The execution of the building is what left me sighing as I walked out into the night. It is a building I may visit again, but specifically to see a show or a game. Absolutely not to see the building, and that is a great disappointment.