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Centre Daily Times July 20 2005
Garman gains funds for expansion project
By Pete Bosak; pbosak@centredaily.com
"Financing is in place for a $727,000 expansion of historic Garman Opera House to include a 10-room inn atop the landmark theater and a 70-seat IMAX-screen theater, state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, announced Tuesday.
Kathryn Iadarola, president of Arkat Inc., owner of the Garman, said she wasn't ready yet to comment on the plans. However, a brief e-mail from Iadarola raised questions about the IMAX theater portion of the project.
"We are planning some renovating at the Garman, however, I have no idea how we would ever fit an IMAX in here," Iadarola wrote in an e-mail.
"We won't nearly be ready to talk about the renovations for at least three months."
However, Corman's chief of staff, Donald Houser, said the IMAX-screen theater was part of a proposal submitted by Arkat to the Commonwealth Financing Authority.
Corman announced Tuesday that the authority had approved a $200,000 First Industries Tourism Loan for the project.
Renovation plans also call for restoration of the theater stage to allow for live performances.
The project was approved by the Bellefonte Historical and Architectural Review Board and borough council in 2002, said borough Manager Ralph Stewart.
Stewart said borough officials are expecting construction to begin in the fall.
"For a while there they were waiting for financing and things like that," he said. "But we're very excited."
According to Corman's office, the project is funded with a $158,000 loan from Nittany Bank, a $236,000 loan from the federal Small Business Administration and a $133,000 loan from the Progress Fund, a Fayette County nonprofit group that aids tourism-related business in Pennsylvania.
"Bellefonte, from our vantage point, is a jewel in central Pennsylvania," said David Kahley, Progress Fund president and CEO.
"Bellefonte is a phenomenal small town and this is an important building in the Bellefonte downtown. I cannot say enough about this project or Bellefonte."
The application submitted to the Progress Fund also says a second theater will contain an IMAX screen.
That 70-seat theater will allow for second-run films and, with a new digital projector, enable the theater to run foreign and independent films immediately upon release, as the movie industry is moving toward digital and away from 35mm formats, Project Fund documents indicate.
"We're actually very excited the owners are moving forward with the project," Stewart said. "The movie theater and the restaurant are both first class and it will continue to draw people into the community."
The 100-seat fine-dining La Bella Trattoria operates out of the opera house building.
The Garman Opera House was built in 1890 as a venue for live performances and was on the vaudeville circuit.
It has nine full-time employees and plans to add four more full-time jobs as part of the expansion, Houser said."
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