From the June 24, 2024 Butler Eagle:

From the December 21, 2023 Butler Eagle:

From the November 20, 2023 Butler Eagle:

 

From the April 17, 2023 Butler Eagle:

From the August 30, 2022 Butler Eagle:

From the June 8, 2022 Butler Eagle (most of us knew this as the Jr. High School building):

 

From the October 21, 2021 Butler Eagle:

Classmate John "JR" Stokes was among the earliest dispatchers who worked (from 1971-77) at the Butler County 911 center which was recognized by the Butler Area Chamber of Commerce at their 2021 Community Champion Luncheon held 10/15/21 for its 51 years of essential service to Butler County communities. 

From the June 4, 2021 Butler Eagle:

 

From the May 27, 2021 Butler Eagle:

 

Artist rendering of new potential auxiliary gym at Butler Senior High School:

The Butler Area School District is moving forward with the process of planning an expansion of and addition to the Senior High School. At their April 19, 2021 meeting, the school board approved the hiring of Eckles Construction Services Inc to provide construction management services for an auxiliary gym, classroom addition, and locker-room reorganization subject to solicitor review at a cost of $293,000. A pre-engineered metal building used mostly for physical education classes with collapsible seating for 350-400 spectators is planned near the current Senior High Gym. The classroom addition project would be constructed at the current site of the covered walkway at the Senior High and include STEAM space, a large group instruction area and possibly a connection to the 300 wing. This space is needed for reorganization that would see 9th grade students shifted to the Senior High. The gym project includes an eight month construction period and is expected to begin next month. The classroom addition project will likely go out to bid in the next couple of months which would put that on track for completion in the summer of 2022.

 

Four of our classmates (Linda Spiece, Sue Salisbury, Denise Brown & Lois Nebel) got their photo taken together by the Butler Eagle at a fundraiser held on 1/27/19 at Butler County Community College.

The Dairy Queen adjacent to the New Castle Road entrance to BHS did not open as usual in 2018. After 51 years in business, the local owners, Jim and Eric Edwards found themselves in a dispute with the franchisor (DQ) who the owners claim insisted that they purchase new ice cream machines (again) despite purchasing new machines a few years ago (photo taken by Kayla Molczan of the Butler Radio Network).

The business reopened on 7/14/18 as Edwards Ice Cream after giving up their Dairy Queen franchise.

The new VA Health Care Center building was dedicated in honor of Abie Abraham who was born in Lyndora in 1913. Abie dedicated most of his life (including 30 years of service in the Army) to the military and then other veterans. Following his retirement, he volunteered over 32,000 hours at the VA Medical Center until he passed away on March 22, 2012 at the age of 98. He is buried at Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC as per his request.  If you "google" his name, you can read all about him and why he deserved this honor..

The new VA Health Care Center (for out-patients) located on North Duffy Road opened in October, 2017.

The 80-room Holiday Inn Express and Suites located at 203 North Duffy Road opened in late 2014.

The 80-room Hampton Inn located at Butler Crossing opened in November, 2014.

A historic theater in downtown Butler was recognized as one of the most important buildings to preserve in the region. The Penn Theater was recently recognized by the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh as one of the most important buildings to preserve in the region. The list is compiled annually to spotlight historic sites in local communities that may be endangered but have a good chance for survival and rescue. The theater opened in the late 1930s on Butler’s Main Street. A local nonprofit is working towards buying the building, renovating and reopening it. Note: the now vacant lot next door to the theater was the former site of Worsley's which was torn down following a fire in early 2016.

The new parking garage is located one block off of Main St at the intersection of Cunningham & McKean Streets where this photo was taken.

This view of the new parking garage from McKean St shows a little bit of the nearly completed Marriott Springhill Suites Hotel (the blue & white building) in the rear.

View of the new parking garage from Cunningham St.

The following article appeared in the 10/25/15 Butler Eagle. The Cubs Hall (formerly YMCA) and Medical Arts buildings can be seen in the background. 10/20/17 project update: the Marriott Springhill Suites, which is being built at the corner of South McKean and East Jefferson streets as part of the Centre City Project, has now been under construction for two years. Although it was originally expected to open in March of 2017, completion is now expected in November, 2017.

This is where the former Woolworth's building used to be at the corner of South Main and Cunningham Streets as viewed from the former Troutman's building. The new hotel and parking garage will be constructed in the area behind this building.

The Butler County Government Annex Building which opened in August, 2015 as seen from South Washington & Vogely Streets. The old prison used to be on this site.

Two views of the City of Butler's Public Safety Building which houses the fire and police departments is located on North Washington and West New Castle Streets.

Classmate Alan Rosenberg moved The Workingman's Store from South Main Street into the former PNC Bank Building a couple of years ago. You can see how much more space he now has to serve the gas frackers in Butler County.

 

The family of classmate Sue Worsley Uram closed their paint, wallpaper, furniture & dolls store on North Main Street in 2014. On 3/11/16, a fire began in one of the seven upstairs apartments. The fire took seven hours to extinguish and caused such heavy damage to the insured building that it is expected to be condemned and eventually torn down.

The former Goodyear Tire Store at the corner of North Main and West Brady Street was replaced in 2015 with a Dunkin' Donuts with a drive-thru service window.

The following article appeared in the May 6, 2015 Tribune Review:

Butler Area board approves consolidation; 5 schools to close

Despite months of protests and a campaign for school board filled with opponents of school consolidation, Butler Area School school directors Wednesday voted to close five of the district's 11 elementary schools. Board members voted 7-2 during a contentious meeting at Butler Area Senior High School to close the Broad Street, Center Avenue, Clearfield, Meridian and Oakland elementary schools. “This consolidation has been discussed and debated for over two years. We have increased property taxes 23 of past 25 years. We have to give the taxpayer consideration,” said board member Jim Keffalas. The plan moves seventh and eighth graders to the district's main campus in Butler Township next school year. All fifth- and sixth-graders will attend what is now the district's junior high school in the city of Butler. “This consolidation will improve the district and the educational choices,” said board member Al Vavro. Board members Bill Halle and John Conrad voted against consolidation. “We do not have to do this plan right now,” said Halle, who made a failed motion to delay the vote. Butler Area has 14 schools and an enrollment of about 7,300, down 1,000 since 2003. Eight of the nine school board candidates in the May 19 primary oppose consolidation. The new school board formed in December likely will have a majority opposed to consolidation. The Pennsylvania Department of Education says it has no authority to require a board to postpone a vote and no authority to overturn a school board's decision about school closures. Consultants told the district that consolidation would save the school district $3.5 million a year. Nearly $2.5 million of it would come from reductions in staffing costs. Yet last month, the district said that after capital costs associated with consolidation, new teaching positions and about $2 million in proposed technology spending are added to the budget, the district anticipates a $765,000 increase in its deficit next year. About 120 people attended the meeting, and nearly all members of the public who spoke opposed consolidation.

 

Butler Memorial Hospital opened its new Patient Tower on August 2, 2010.

 

 For those classmates who have not visited downtown Butler recently, below is a 2009 photo of the new South Main Street "General Richard Butler" bridge as viewed from the Post Office.  Main Street no longer goes straight up South Main Street hill.  There are also two photos of the new East Wayne Street viaduct - one view from McKean St and the other from the opposite end facing the Court House in the background.  The old viaduct was eventually demolished in late 2009.