Years from now, when people reflect on 2005, they are likely to regard it as the year of Butler's revival - the year that the city reawakened.

After years of virtual nothingness, the city is experiencing a rebirth of positive, exciting activity that, if continued, will eradicate complacency and the caretaker attitude that pushed the city backward and threatened to keep it standing still.

A return to vibrancy is not out of reach, if a multi-pronged commitment to a new, exciting city fully entrenches itself within current and future leaders. The sleepy ways of the past must be abandoned forever.

In a couple of years, the south end of the downtown area will have a modern entrance via the new Main Street Viaduct that currently is under construction. Several years after that, the new Wayne Street Viaduct is scheduled to be in place, eliminating a span that, like the Main Street Viaduct, was a legitimate candidate for replacement 20 years ago.

The thinking of the past was exhibited by a top county official a year or so ago when that official asked a state Department of Transportation official whether replacement of the Wayne Street span was really necessary. That official apparently didn't contemplate the inevitable day when the span would be declared unsafe for traffic - a situation reminiscent of the South Monroe Street Bridge debacle - nor how the loss of the Wayne Street span would inconvenience the big volume of traffic that currently uses it.

Officials with the mind-set of keeping Butler from moving forward should bow out of the picture in favor of people who don't share in that kind of thinking. The money already in place from various sources for projects yet to begin must not be lost.

Besides the large-scale Main Street Viaduct work, the major resurfacing program involving a number of city streets has brought recollections of a time long past when traffic could routinely move over streets that were smooth, well maintained and without potholes every few feet.

While there still is more that could be done on the city's part - some streets, such as Pillow and West Diamond, still have deep potholes that have been ignored, and the city has allowed a section of Elm Street to remain closed for too long - what has been accomplished this year spawns hope for the future. This year's work also is grounds for residents of decades-neglected streets to ask officials when their turn will come in terms of eradicating the "Great Depression" image that currently dominates those streets.

Too many streets continue to be an embarrassment - the result of poor leadership incapable of making progress happen.

Amid the visible developments are the ongoing, behind-the-scenes efforts regarding Main Street revitalization, West End revitalization, establishment of a downtown cultural district, and the planned renovation of Pullman Park. While controversial, the planned construction of a new prison near the current prison site - the groundbreaking apparently will be held later this year - will provide another modern element to the downtown, just as the new addition to the YWCA on West Cunningham Street will do.

Meanwhile, there is movement in terms of developing the former Woolworth department store site and adjacent areas, including construction of a convention center. If that happens, it would portend exciting possibilities for the city economy.

At the same time, expanding the entertainment opportunities within the city must be an ongoing goal amid the traditional events that the city enjoys, such as the ethnic festival, Cruise-A-Palooza, the Bicycle Rodeo at the Island Playground, and the various parades.

The New Year's Eve celebration on Dec. 31 - Ring in the Arts - was a big step in the right direction that is scheduled to continue.

The spurts of life at the Penn Theater this year have been encouraging for the future, and the Butler Little Theatre has continued its penchant for presenting fine performances.

Also are the stores and businesses that have remained faithful to the downtown.

The seeds are planted for a revitalized future for the city, but there must be no relaxation of the determination that continues to evolve. Infrastructure improvements must continue and so must the overall progressive attitude that is replacing the folly that Butler could prosper even if it stood still.

The construction noise, temporary rerouting of traffic, orange barrels, cranes, trucks, paving equipment, jackhammers - and even the dust - denote a city on the move.

For Butler, the "year of revival" must remain alive and vigorous even after the last page of this year's calendar is no longer of any use.