As plans for the Downtown Improvement District's (DID) cineplex move forward, students envision improvements that may benefit them.

Off-Campus Student Union President Ryan Bennington said that even though the housing included in the complex will not be for undergraduate students, he thinks downtown will benefit.

"Anytime you can get a new center, accessible by walking, that is a big move forward, especially in a town of this size," Bennington said.

DID Director Teresa Sparacino said the DID is also applying for $3 million from the state capital budget for the project and $6 million total from various state sources.

"There are a ton of communities applying for that money," Sparacino said. "[Sen. Jake] Corman [R-Centre] knows that money is only going to go so far."

She added that the DID has never relied on only one source for money, and she is confident the funding will come through.

Corman's office could not be reached for comment by press time.

The 140-foot condominium tower will be built at the intersection of West Beaver Avenue and South Fraser Street, and a three-story cinema will sit at the Calder Way and Fraser Street intersection. The complex has been named the Fraser Centre "for now," Sparacino said.

"It could very well be renamed ... we wanted to quit calling it [the cineplex] because it is so much more than that," she said.

Sparacino said she hopes to see the construction, which would last one year, begin in late summer of 2006.

As a student living off campus, JT Young (sophomore-psychology) said he thinks citizens of State College will gain from Fraser Centre.

"From a State College perspective, retail stores add wealth and jobs, and in a college town, we need these things," Young said.

Retail will be available in the complex, and Sparacino said the developers have been talking to Urban Outfitters and some bookstores that appeal to the student market.

"Places to shop are good. There are 40,000 kids in State College, and 20,000 are girls, and girls shop," Nate Joline (sophomore-math) said. "Put a bar in. Bars are always cool."

Sparacino said the plans for the Fraser Centre include condominium housing, but not student housing because the DID wants to improve the revenue stream for the downtown by urbanizing. The 12-story tower is meant to bring in wage earners and those who help sustain the economic base of downtown.

"The economy tanks when students go away, and we a need market that is 12 months out of the year so that we won't feel the pinch as much when students go on break," Sparacino said. "We need that in order to survive -- an economic base in the core downtown."

John Wernly (junior-earth sciences) said he disagrees with not allowing students to live in the new condominiums because he said it reduces space for students who wish to live in the downtown area.

"People with jobs will have cars and can get around easier," Wernly said. "Students should be able to be near campus."

Lynda La Spina (junior-English and political science) said she is happy to see a newer theater coming into the downtown State College area.

"The theater here is so bad, and the town is pretty small, there isn't much to do," La Spina said.

The cinema will include 10 theaters, and although the company has not yet been established, the main goal is that the cinema provides an experience beyond going to the movies, Sparacino said.

State College Borough Council President Cathy Dauler said the cinema would add to the downtown sense of community.

"The cinema will be beautiful, state-of-the-art and conveniently located," Dauler said. "It is not like people leave a movie located in the middle of a corn field and drive home. There will be all the amenities in the downtown."