Butler Downtown is surveying businesses downtown to make it easier for anyone to see what commercial space is available.

The survey is being done on businesses between Penn Street and Wayne Street and Washington Street and McKean Street.

The information collected will be put on an online map for anyone to see. It also could potentially be used for brochures for visitors and for ways for Butler Downtown to contact businesses.

“It’s about connecting people to the downtown area and making that information available,” said Tom Graham, Butler Downtown president.

A group of about 20 volunteers have done preliminary research, finding out the square footage of the businesses and then handing out questionnaires to the building and business owners.

In particular, Graham noted Kenny Bonus and Lance Calvert, both of Butler, as key players in doing the surveys.

“They’ve done an exceptional job of organizing how the data should be collected, recruiting the volunteers, setting up the meetings and how to go about doing this whole project,” he said.

The questionnaires have 62 questions and will confirm the name and type of business, business hours, website and social media information, contact information, building amenities and parking information, among other facts.

“It’s going to be able to provide people that exposure and hopefully generate a little more revenue for those businesses,” Bonus said. “The more visibility people have to a restaurant they wouldn’t see otherwise.”

It’s not just about the active businesses, though.

“The hope would be the investors identify these properties that are for sale but you wouldn’t know otherwise,” Bonus said.

He said it’s “tough to say” how many businesses are downtown because they haven’t finished surveying, but he estimated the number at 125.

Graham said Butler Downtown hopes to have the surveys collected by the end of July or early August.

The last time Butler Downtown did a survey of this kind was in 2006.

“In 10 years the face of the city has changed pretty dramatically,” Graham said.

The 2006 survey only included businesses on Main Street. The current survey includes those on other streets as well.

Graham noted the city’s variety of businesses as a potential draw to visitors.

“I mean, the pieces of the city are pretty eclectic,” he said. “We’ve got breweries, tattoo shops. We’ve also got attorneys and dentists and restaurants. We’re just hoping to make sure that everyone knows what’s available.”

The main goal, he said, is to get the website up before the Centre City project is finished.

That project includes a parking garage to be finished by September, and the Marriott Springhill Suites that is to be open by the end of the year.

The project also includes a Rite Aid store that is already open.

The Centre City project costs a total of $13.2 million and is in the block bordered by Cunningham, McKean, Jefferson and Cedar streets.

“The goal is to get this up and running before the opening of the hotel, to make it easier to get them to stay,” Graham said of visitors.

Businesses that are interested in taking part in the survey can call Bonus at 724-991-6436.