The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra hopes to make a decision on its permanent summer home sometime in February, the president of the symphony's board of directors said Friday.

David Christopher, symphony board president; Gideon Toeplitz, board vice president and managing director; and Rod Hohl, vice president of North American Realty Advisory Service, visited Toftrees Resort Friday. They heard community, regional and University leaders present ideas designed to attract the symphony to the area.

Robert Potter, president of the board of directors for the Nittany Valley Symphony, said the plans for a permanent summer home are still tentative, even if State College is chosen as the building site.

"What they'll do is work with one community or the other --that still doesn't mean the (performance facility) will be built," Potter said. "Six or eight months later, they could end up changing their minds."

To date, the top candidates for the summer home project are State College and Bedford, although other sites may be considered, said Sylvia Turner, director of public information for the symphony.

State College leaders proposed the building of an outdoor concert facility capable of seating 7,000 to 8,000 people. Toeplitz said the symphony was looking for a facility capable of seating at least 5,000 people.

If State College is chosen for the site and the requisite facilities are built, the symphony could be doing a summer concert series within four or five years, Potter said.

"They want to develop a separate board of directors from the Pittsburgh Symphony board composed of local leaders as well as Pittsburgh (representatives) -- and that group would lead the effort," Potter said.

He said the meeting "was a complete discussion of what (the symphony board) wants to do, where it wants to go. They wanted to know what kind of assets this community can bring to that table and make it a success."

According to Potter, the symphony board was most interested in audience development, costs of setting the program up, government support and possible sites for a permanent outdoor performance facility. Educational opportunities and the possibilities for shared facilities were also discussed with University officials at the meeting.

"We now have to draft proposals, put all the things said (Friday) in writing, and get that done within the next two or three weeks," Potter said. "We would hope to have indications from (the board) in the next two or three months."