It's been a few years since anyone headed to downtown Butler to see a movie. But last weekend, several hundred people did just that as the Penn Theater Community Trust brought a film festival by IFC, the Independent Film Channel, to town.

Five movies over four days brought an estimated 300 people into downtown Butler.

It was a good first event for the Penn Theater Community Trust, which bought the Main Street fixture earlier this year and hopes to fully renovate it so that not only films, but live theater and other special events can be held in the vintage 1938 theater.

Last weekend's IFC film festival not only brought 300 or more people into Butler that otherwise probably would not have come into the city, it also gave the Penn Trust non-profit group a chance to show off the work that's been completed thus far and give visitors a hint of what the theater will look like when fully renovated.

Visitors to weekend film festival contributed over $3,000 in the form of both at-the-door donations and fulfillment of pledges to the group's original fund-raising effort.

The next opportunity for people to see the theater and watch a movie will be Dec. 10 and Dec. 11, when the Penn Trust will show Cinema Paradiso, a critically acclaimed 1998 movie about a famous Italian filmmaker's early childhood friendship with a projectionist at his local theater. It is appropriate that a movie about movies is one of the first presentations of a group dedicated to restoring a classic movie house.

These movies at the Penn are special, in part, because they are shown in a vintage, downtown theater rather than mall-based multiplex, and they are showing films generally not found in most theaters today.

While movies are not expected to be the dominant form of entertainment at the fully renovated Penn, they are a good way to get people into the theater to see how work is progressing - especially in the early stages of renovation when the smaller, upstairs theater is functional. And a regular schedule of two or three film events a month will tap into the local audience more attuned to movies than live performances.

The Penn Theater Trust's intention to offer a broad mix of live and video entertainment that taps into a diverse audience is a good way to ensure that the theater thrives and serves as a magnet to attract people into Butler on a regular basis.

The movie theater alone will not solve downtown Butler's economic woes, but a vital cultural district with the renovated Penn serving a highly visible beacon is doing something positive - offering unique entertainment options and bringing bodies into Butler.

The Penn Trust should be applauded for its work thus far and supported in its future endeavors.