SLIPPERY ROCK - Many parts of the Slippery Rock revitalization project were deemed improvements during a ceremony Wednesday, but participants were most thankful for the new gazebo.

That's where about 30 of them huddled while representatives from the Butler County Chamber of Commerce awarded members of Slippery Rock Development Inc. with the Community Champion award. An intense and windy rainstorm kept the event short and forced everyone into close quarters under the gazebo in Gateway Park.

The Slippery Rock group is the third to be honored with the award and received a custom-made plaque that included some highlights of the revitalization project on it. That plaque will eventually be displayed in the kiosk in front of the Camelot restaurant.

Last year, the A.M. Rotary in Butler was honored with the award for its work on the playground at Alameda Park for special needs children. In 2003, the award went to the Shade Tree Committee for its work in downtown Butler.

The development group was chosen for its "collective accomplishment," in downtown improvements, according to Stan Kosciuszko, president of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce.

Bill Sonntag, president of the development group, said the certificate was appreciated but he couldn't take credit for it.

"As I've said before, this was a real team effort," he said. "There were no big egos in our group."

Beyond the development group, local organizations helped with the downtown improvements as well, he said. That includes the borough council, Slippery Rock Municipal Authority, Slippery Rock University, SRU Foundation, and state and regional representatives.

"I'm sincere about this," he said. "A lot of towns can't get everyone to work together without politics getting in the way."

The $5.3 downtown project included decorative sidewalks, rock formations, turning lanes for traffic at the intersection of Franklin and South Main streets, buried overhead utility lines, rebuilt infrastructure, new parks, including Gateway Park with a waterfall and gazebo, and trees and flowers along Main Street.

Next spring, a second phase will begin which will continue similar improvements along Franklin Street. That project will cost about $1 million, most of which will be paid for with federal grants.

The project will improve sidewalks, add decorative landscaping and widen Franklin Street by about a foot on each side, but won't include burying utilities, Sonntag said. The consultants, E.G. and G. of Akron, Ohio, who handled the first phase of improvements, will also manage the Franklin Street project.