Nearly 10 years after it was first proposed, the Centre City project in downtown Butler appears to be a sure thing.

Agreements needed to build the hotel and parking garage were essentially finalized Tuesday. Developer J.S. Capitol and the city signed off on a number of loans and agreements during a nearly four-hour meeting with the lawyers and bankers.

With the closing on the hotel property done, the city can start work on its adjoining 239-space parking garage. PNC Bank has sold the $6.8 million in municipal bonds that will fund the garage. The bond issue also will refinance the existing parking authority’s debt and pay for the West New Castle Street bridge replacement.

A lot can change in a decade.

For one thing, the community leaders who first proposed Centre City are in radically different circumstances today. The city councilman who championed the initiative, Mike Kelly, is now a two-term member of Congress. And Perry O’Malley, the city redevelopment authority director who first proposed it, is fighting allegations of impropriety that resulted in his firing as county Housing Authority director earlier this year.

But the city leadership’s devotion to the core idea of a downtown hotel/meeting center has not wavered significantly.

Ten years ago, Kelly observed that “you can see the return on investment” from what was being proposed. He said small-market convention centers, like the one included as part of the original plan, are in demand.

“Here you can have the smaller, specialized events,” Kelly said. “a place where you can put people up and meet.”

There won’t be a convention facility in the final version, but meeting rooms will be available for more modest business gatherings.

And, Butler’s advantage in that scenario is its relatively close proximity to a major metropolitan area like Pittsburgh, Kelly said.

That much has not changed. The original plan is still in play — with one big exception.

As originally envisioned, Centre City included an additional, U-shaped structure featuring ground-floor commercial areas and two upper floors of condominiums. That structure was dropped from the plans somewhere along the way. The rest of the plan has remained essentially intact.

There is plenty of space in the vicinity to add any missing components in a new business climate. The new Rite Aid store, at the corner of Cunningham and South Main streets, is an example of investment in Centre City.

In a June 2006 editorial, the Butler Eagle praised the Centre City initiative. “The project, as proposed, could inject a measure of new life to the center city and be the seed for further redevelopment,” the editorial stated.

That sentiment still stands.

Some pundits might question Kelly’s contention that “you can see the return on investment.” Only time will tell if Centre City can live up to the congressman’s optimistic assessment.

But after 10 long years of haggling, speculating and false starts, it will be far better to work for that goal than to wait any longer.