Construction on the Centre Area Transportation Authority's new, spacious facility in Cato Park should be completed in late summer, satisfying increased transportation needs and public pressure, a CATA official said.

The $4.6 million Cato Park facility will be state-of-the-art, offering more office space and an improved maintenance design over the cramped Osmond Street headquarters, said Stefan Fabian-Marks, CATA planning and marketing specialist.

"Our present facility is very cramped," Fabian-Marks said, citing growth for local transportation services during the past few years as a key factor in the move.

Kevin Abbey, CATA general manager, said the current facility has been too small since it opened in 1975, and plans to move began in 1982. The new facility was chosen to consolidate office space, allowing CATA to cope with its surging growth, Abbey said.

The facility's new home will also include extra on-site space for buses.

Currently, buses have to use the same entrance for entering and leaving the maintenance and wash bays. This is difficult for the drivers because they have to back buses out of the service area into an alley -- a problem CATA has learned to live with, Fabian-Marks said.

The new facility will allow CATA to house all of its buses inside. The limited space of the present site forces CATA to keep some buses outside, decreasing the buses' useful life expectancy, Fabian-Marks said.

CATA is anticipating no temporary changes in service during the bus line's transition, he said.

The move also signals an end to complaints from local residents, who contended that the CATA facility caused too much noise and pollution. Since the Osmond Street site is located between two residential districts, several residents have long been calling for CATA to find a new facility, Fabian-Marks said.

Ronald Davis, assistant State College Borough manager, said the borough plans to move its mechanics into the Osmond Street facility after CATA moves out.