Last week, the owners of Premiere Theatre 12 in College Township announced plans to build a new nine-screen theater in Patton Township next March.

Multiple theaters are already established in the State College area and plans for a new 10-screen downtown cineplex are underway.

The planned construction of this new movie theater raises a plethora of questions about the number of movie theaters needed in State College, if it will be beneficial to the community and if this new cinema will be economically feasible.

State College is medium-sized town with a university and with multiple movie theaters already built and two more in the planning phase, the number of theaters may outstrip the demand of the movie-going base.

Permanent residents of State College provide a stable audience for the movie theaters in the area, but during the summer when Penn State students leave, the total base for the movie-going audience most likely decreases significantly.

The new cinema may also prove to be a boon to residents living in the areas adjacent to Patton Township because they will have much easier access to a movie theater.

It is also a positive sign that businesses are interested in developing the State College area, but State College may not be able to support several large movie theaters, especially with the recent flagging revenues of the motion picture industry.

This could cause concern because it would damage the area's economy if the theater were to come here and then fail immediately after opening its doors.

This is the type of situation in which a market feasibility survey could effectively clarify the need for an additional movie theater in the area. The cost of a feasibility study would pay for itself if it meant avoiding the closing of the theater right after it opens.

Ultimately, United Entertainment Corp. will bear the brunt of the risk from this venture and as in all private ventures, the fiscal solvency of the enterprise is forfeit if the business fails. The borough of State College does not have a stake in the cinema in Patton Township, nor should it, so it is a matter of private industry investing in its business.

The selection of movie types in State College may not expand because the new cinema may provide more for mainstream, rather than independent movies. It may prove an advantage for the community and illustrate that competitiveness among local businesses allows the margins both for enterprise and also for students' cultural sensibilities to grow.