The rebirth of Buffalo’s Central Terminal, if it ever comes, will be measured in years, not hours.

Still, it is a welcome sign of the seriousness and industry of the terminal’s backers that, just in time for the edifice’s 80th birthday party, its iconic four-sided clock was returned to its proper home.

After having brightened the lobby of the downtown headquarters of M&Tbank for the past four years, the restored timepiece serves as a sort of earnest payment for the dreams of reviving the whole building.

The terminal building was basically abandoned 30 years ago, and has had the poor fortune to be too far away to benefit from either the slow revival of downtown or the constant sprawl of the suburbs. But it has a loyal following of people who, much to their credit, hate to see such a beautiful and historic building go to waste.

A full restoration of the terminal could cost up to $150 million. That’s money that nobody has right now, but could follow were the terminal to become a hub for the envisioned high-speed rail line and/or a mixed-use center of retail, office, even residential space. An example of just that sort of urban redevelopment can be seen on Delaware Avenue, where an old federal building has become Uniland Development Co.’s glass-covered Avant building.

Knocking the building down, informed people tell us, would cost only $20 million. But that’s also money that nobody has right now, especially to do something that would leave nothing as beautiful or historic as the terminal.

More than anything, the restoration of the Central Terminal clock is a way of putting a beating heart back in the middle of the old building. It’s a way of saying the building may not be as lively or as attractive as it once was, but that it has not, yet, been forgotten.