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I watched them blow up the Paramount Theater, implode the Montgomery Ward building and knock down various other downtown structures with a big iron ball, and thoroughly enjoyed the show. But when a plain warehouse in the Riverpoint West area disappeared this spring, that’s when I got nostalgic.

At the end, I think it was a Jeld-Wen Inc. building, but for several years it was occupied by the local franchise of the Frank Paxton Lumber Co. Contractors bought bulk quantities through the warehouse, and we amateur woodworkers went in the store up front to find boards for our sure-to-be-keepsakes projects.

It was the kind of place I never expected to frequent. I grew up around circular saws and two-by-fours, but none of the carpenters I knew were building classy furniture. Machine sheds, yes. Ornately carved Pennsylvania highboys, no.

Then Fine Woodworking magazine popped up on my radar screen and so did Paxton’s. In those days, it was located somewhere else south of downtown, I forget where.

It was another one of those Baby Boomer moments. It’s been the case for decades now; as soon as you find a new interest, so do a million other Boomers, and it instantly becomes easy to find information to use and stuff to buy.

So I bought a used table saw from Wolfe Machinery Co. and started cobbling things together.

The trouble with Fine Woodworking, however, was that it was a little like reading a term paper.

But, true to the Boomer trend, along came a magazine that was extremely helpful. Don Peschke had departed Meredith Corp. to start Woodsmith magazine, and it was exactly what a rookie needed.

Now you could stride into Paxton’s knowing what you needed, select the lumber, spend a few minutes looking at tools and return to your workshop.

Meredith decided Peschke’s idea wasn’t so bad after all and started Wood magazine. Now a key part of America’s amateur woodworking world was centered in Des Moines on a two-block stretch of Grand Avenue. The last I knew, Wood was selling a half million copies and Woodsmith about half that.

Peschke, who has never appeared to lack confidence, wasn’t content to be a publisher. He opened a store in Beaverdale that lured our wandering eyes away from Paxton’s. The lumber was in the basement, and on the way you walked past an endless array of tools, machines and accessories and thought, “If I just had this stuff, I could do great things.” It was like being transported into the ads in Fine Woodworking – but not in Woodsmith, ironically enough; it carries no advertising.

Then Woodcraft opened a store on 22nd Street in West Des Moines. It didn’t match The Woodsmith Store, but it created some competition.

So Peschke finally hauled out the big saws and constructed a superstore on Hickman Road that’s like the Cabela’s for the workshop set. Woodcraft soon disappeared like sawdust in the wind.

By now, Wood, Woodsmith and their competitors have plunged into Web sites filled with discussion forums and instructional videos.

Crowds of woodworkers show up at The Woodsmith Store to take classes and watch demonstrations. Wood had a fling with the idea of a TV show a few years ago, but nothing came of it. Now Woodsmith has started airing its own show on public television.

It all demonstrates how far a market segment can come in 25 years. And it also shows how businesses can actually change the way their customers live. No magazines, no first-rate tool and lumber stores, and thousands of Central Iowans don’t become serious woodworkers.

When the Bass Pro Shop comes to Altoona, people will spend hours wandering among the rods and reels and lures and so forth. Some of those people will have only a mild interest in outdoor activities when they walk in. But they’ll leave thinking: “Wow. I had no idea there was so much stuff I could want.”