After battling through some tough financial straits in recent memory, the State Theatre is striking up a business partnership that will provide a little extra security for the non-profit venue.
After a lengthy back-and-forth with the State College Borough, the theatre has been given the thumbs up to install an ATM in the glass overlooking College Avenue that will generate hundreds of dollars a month for the performing arts venue.
The ATM comes from a new partnership with the First National Bank, who have worked out a deal with the State Theatre that will put about $10,000 into the theatre’s pocket every year. $7,000 of that amount comes directly from rent for the space, while roughly $3,000 more comes from donations straight from the bank to the theatre.
Theatre executive director Greg Ray plans to use the money to reduce rental rates for the theatre to make the space available to more organizations and performances. By charging less to rent out performance space, Ray hopes to expand the theatre’s family of performing arts groups to include new members.
“We take pride in our partnerships with a lot of local performing arts groups, and we’re their home to put on performances,” Ray says. “The help we receive from business partnerships, generous donations and sponsors are what allow us to take a chance on a smaller or less-well known performing arts group.”
Ray stresses that the money from the bank will be used to offset costs for outside organizations to use the theatre, so continued community support will continue to be crucial despite the bump to the theatre’s budget coming from the bank.
Debate and Opposition
The State Theatre first approached the State College Borough Council about the proposed ATM several months ago. The theatre wanted to find some way to install the ATM without interfering with the building stonework while also staying within the borough’s code.
After months of working with planning staff, the borough council approved an amendment to the zoning code on Monday night that allows downtown businesses to install ATMs in window displays if the amount of glass removed falls within a limited range.
Although the measure passed – and although everyone seemed unanimous in their hopes for the continued success of the State Theatre – the measure’s success did not come without opposition.
Borough resident Eric Boeldt was “disturbed” by the proposal, saying it opened the door for the instillation of an unnecessary amount of ATMs downtown. Resident David Stone also called the proposal “the definition of spot-zoning,” which he feels devalues existing zoning regulations.
Other residents echoed these concerns, with resident and Borough Council candidate Janet Engeman also arguing that ATMs will be less and less important in the future as e-cash and apps like Apple Pay become more common.
Council members Tom Daubert, Theresa Lafer, and Catherine Dauler also opposed the zoning amendment, raising concerns about a perceived overabundance of existing ATMs and how they impact the aesthetics of downtown.
State Theatre board member Jay Bartlett countered some of these ideas by arguing that only a handful of businesses could install ATMs under the new zoning amendment, and only a handful of those would conceivably want to sacrifice the window display space. Bartlett argued these concerns were outweighed by the benefit to the State Theatre.
Council member Evan Myer spoke in favor of the measure, speaking favorably of the impact it would have on the theatre and arguing it wasn’t the council’s place to interfere with business decisions without good reason.
Despite the opposition, the motion passed 4-3, with Daubert, Lafer, and Dauler making up the dissenting votes.
Ray says the First National Bank now has a few procedural steps to go through with the borough, and it needs to build a speciality ATM to fit within the smaller-than-average space approved by council. He hopes to have the ATM up by December.
“We’re very grateful to the borough council, and especially the borough staff, who did a terrific job and worked very hard with us on this request,” Ray says.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included incorrect information about the partnership between the theatre and bank, and mischaracterized the impact it would have on the theatre. StateCollege.com apologizes for this error.
