PHILIPSBURG, CENTRE COUNTY - For several years, a suffering economy led to many suffering towns, but now that the economy may be bouncing back, some still worry about the small towns affected and wonder if they'll ever get back to where they were before.
"It was real different," Jennifer Moul said. "It was more alive back in the day. It was."
"I was told you couldn't even walk the streets of the main street it was so busy, and all that's long gone," Jan McDonald said.
Today if you walk the main street of downtown Philipsburg, what you'll see are several empty shops and windows with signs reading, "For sale" or "Closed."
Dale Cyphert owns Pendale's Resales on Front Street. Since opening his doors last year, he hasn't seen much traffic.
"Most of our merchandise is donated by the community and then we sell it and donate 20-percent of the profits back into the community," he said. "But as I say, business is slow."
Just across the street, the Rowland Theatre is feeling the hit, too.
"We're suffering from lack of people, lack of admissions, etc," McDonald said.
Borough Manager Jan McDonald says rumors the theatre is closing aren't true. Compared to other small town theaters, the Rowland is doing pretty good.
He says there are even projects underway, including construction and a switch to digital cinema.
As for the future of downtown Philipsburg, "We're not going away," McDonald said. "I've heard rumors, but we're not going away."
The following is a proposed timeline for the Rowland Theatre projects:
"It was real different," Jennifer Moul said. "It was more alive back in the day. It was."
"I was told you couldn't even walk the streets of the main street it was so busy, and all that's long gone," Jan McDonald said.
Today if you walk the main street of downtown Philipsburg, what you'll see are several empty shops and windows with signs reading, "For sale" or "Closed."
Dale Cyphert owns Pendale's Resales on Front Street. Since opening his doors last year, he hasn't seen much traffic.
"Most of our merchandise is donated by the community and then we sell it and donate 20-percent of the profits back into the community," he said. "But as I say, business is slow."
Just across the street, the Rowland Theatre is feeling the hit, too.
"We're suffering from lack of people, lack of admissions, etc," McDonald said.
Borough Manager Jan McDonald says rumors the theatre is closing aren't true. Compared to other small town theaters, the Rowland is doing pretty good.
He says there are even projects underway, including construction and a switch to digital cinema.
As for the future of downtown Philipsburg, "We're not going away," McDonald said. "I've heard rumors, but we're not going away."
The following is a proposed timeline for the Rowland Theatre projects:
- February-March, Grant Application and Planning
- April, Grant Award Notification
- May-June, Bid Process
- June-July, Preparation of materials
- August-September, Roll out of materials and education to patrons
- October 2013, Contract for equipment/installation, prep work to ready projection booth
- November, Installation of equipment
- December, Digital conversion live
- January 2, 2014, Announcement of Digital Cinema installation
