More than three months after a Superior Court ruled to evict State College Medical Services (SCMS) from its 477 E. Beaver Ave. office, the clinic closed last week, according to a press release issued by Centre County Citizens Concerned for Human Life.

A nonprofit organization run by the Friendly Corp., SCMS was Centre County's only surgical abortion provider.

Officials for neither State College Medical Services nor HFL Corp., which owns the building, were available for comment and did not confirm the closing. A security officer stationed at the building also declined comment. A spokesperson for American Women's Services, based in Pittsburgh, said SCMS had closed the office indefinitely and that all of the clinic's calls were forwarded to the Pittsburgh clinic.

In a Nov. 3, 2000 ruling, Centre County Judge Charles C. Brown Jr. ordered the clinic to vacate its office space for having breached its lease agreement with HFL Corp. Following the ruling, Friendly Corp. filed an appeal with the Centre County Court of Common Pleas, which granted the corporation a stay until its appeal could be ruled on.

In a lawsuit filed in 1997, HFL Corp. said Friendly Corp. subleased Suite 210 of 477 E. Beaver Ave. to Professional Medical Services without HFL Corp.'s consent. The building's lease prohibits Friendly Corp. from subletting without prior consent.

Professional Medical Services vacated the building following a 1998 ruling against it, but Friendly Corp. remained at the site and continued to operate a clinic under the name State College Medical Services.