Two new theaters are in the works for State College -- one is moving forward, while the other is hitting roadblocks, local officials said.

The United Entertainment Corp., based in Minnesota, has made a bid for a 12-screen movie theater to be built on Shiloh Road and Benner Pike, said State College Borough Council member Elizabeth Goreham.

The bid for the Shiloh Road theater is closer to construction than another movie theater complex that has been proposed for the area between Garner and Hiester streets, which was supposed to have been started this month, Goreham said.

Today the College Township Planning Committee will meet to discuss the Shiloh road theater. The committee will decide how the land will be laid out, how transportation will be affected and how the parking situation will work, said College Township engineer Kent Baker.

The committee can either send the bid to the College Township council with its recommendations or objections, or it can table the bid for one month, he added.

Either way, the United Entertainment Corp. bid is going to come before the township council, Baker said.

The proposal for the Garner and Hiester streets movie theater is being held up because there is a lack of parking spaces, Goreham said. The theater would require a parking garage to be built, which would exceed zoning requirements, she added.

The proposed movie complex for Shiloh Road would have 12 screens and 520 parking spaces, said Mike Ross, United Entertainment Corp. president.

The advantage of the Shiloh Road theater over the proposed downtown theater would be free parking, Ross said.

"We hope that our theater can appeal to the entire local community in addition to the students there," Ross said. "If all goes as expected, then we hope to have the theater open by the summer of 2003."