The design and demolition phases of Butler's West End revitalization project are moving along, officials said, and all that is needed now is to put financing in place.

"This will be the last [public] meeting until we get money," said Perry O'Malley, executive director of the Butler County Housing Authority, at a West End revitalization meeting last week.

O'Malley is also interim executive director of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Butler, which contracted with the Community Development Corp. of Butler County to develop the West End property.

The authority will handle the $10 million, 20-year tax increment financing plan, known as a TIF, for the revitalization of Butler's West End, the former Trinity Industries property and Pullman Park.

Diane Sheets, executive director of the Community Development Corp., said at the Tuesday meeting contractors were removing asbestos from the Trinity site and demolition crews would move onto the site Tuesday. "All the buildings will go except two," Sheets said.

Sheets said money is needed to go any further, but she's pleased with the progress. "Everything is moving at a very good pace," she said.

Sheets said she has no firm commitments from tenants on the 43-acre site because financing has to come first. The site is zoned industrial with a mix of offices and manufacturing.

The two buildings still standing after the contractors leave will be remodeled. Local residents know one as the "old paint shop." The other, which houses Community Development Corp., will be expanded to accommodate growth. The Butler County Chamber of Commerce has already moved out of the building where it shared offices with the corporation for three years.

Sheets said she is working with the state Department of Transportation on the long-term process of fixing the intersections in the area. She is especially concerned about the Hansen Avenue and Whitestown Road intersection. PennDOT will be redesigning it before the Pullman Center Business Park is finished in three years, she said.

The city, county and school district have already approved the TIF plan. It will allow local taxing bodies to cooperate in a loan for the developer while still collecting some tax revenue from the property as it is developed.

O'Malley updated progress on the Pullman Park ball field, which is in the design stage.

"Towards the end of October, we'll start negotiating with general contractors," O'Malley said. "With construction starting in the spring, there may be some activity there during the summer, but we'll definitely be in business by the 2007 season."

O'Malley said the architect, Ligo Associates, has designed the park for 1,500 seats which can be expanded to 3,500. Additional decks will hold another 1,000 people for family picnics. He said about seven acres around the field will be used for restaurants, museums and other community development.

"The footprint of the present field stays the same," he said. "All this will be built around the site."

O'Malley is working with the Community Development Corp. to secure additional parking. There are 300 parking spaces now, but there are 1,400 more that could be available within a 10-minute walk of the ballpark. The ballpark could be operating before work is finished around it.

O'Malley said he has funding in place for the ballpark construction, but there is no funding yet for outside work that includes parking lots, a walkway and exterior lighting.

Meanwhile, O'Malley is busy working on the development of a $2 million, 20,000-square-foot community center in the West End area. Butler City Council sold the Island Playground and a former ballfield to the Butler County Housing Authority for $25,000 in August which will be the site of the community center.

O'Malley expects several nonprofit agencies to lease space at the center, which will be built with grant money, low-interest loans and private money. He said the building is in the early design stage and groundbreaking should take place in the next three to five months. He's looking for a group in the area to sponsor programs that would be available to the entire city, not just the West End.

The state Department of Health has signed a long-term lease for space in the new building. Butler County Children's Center will lease almost half of the center to administer the county's Headstart programs for more than 300 children.

O'Malley said a 2,500-square-foot multipurpose gymnasium will be included that can be used for community events and exercise programs for children and adults. He said a computer center will have high-speed capacity and will serve preschool to senior residents. He's hoping the school district will bring in more programs.

The Island Playground will be remodeled. O'Malley said there is not enough room for ballfields but the city is focusing on its two city parks for sports facilities.

Dunbar Community Center had been working with the Housing Authority because the center is outgrowing its space at Pillow Street and Hansen Avenue. Dunbar will build a new building in the West End, thanks to an anonymous $1 million donation. It will be an independent development.