The University is involved in litigation with the Cinemagic 3 movie theater and is pushing for the company's eviction, according to Penn officials. The theater owes the University approximately $100,000, after failing to pay its rent for several months.
Cinemagic officials would not return any calls for comment.
Penn administrators are considering a number of possible uses for the space.
"We are in a process that could be very complicated and could take a while to sort out," Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino said.
The University cannot begin to make official plans for filling the space until the proceedings with Cinemagic are complete.
Additional retail outlets could be planned for the site. Another use could be a temporary student center for performing arts while officials further study possibilities for the space in the long-term.
"There is a demand for more rehearsal space and more performing-art space," Sorrentino said. In response to this demand, he suggested that using the space for an arts center may be beneficial for students.
"There's always kind of a struggle for performing space on the most popular weekends of the school year," said College sophomore Evan Schapiro, who is the business manager of the a cappella group Counterparts.
"It would be nice to have a central location for all the performing arts groups to sort of be able to work together and talk to each other about what they're doing and get ideas and just network," Teatron Jewish Theatre Chairwoman and College senior Julie Garson said.
Plans for the space will develop with time as officials look at the block of Walnut Street between 39th and 40th streets as a continuation of the growing retail district centered at the west end of campus.
"As we think of the whole block comprehensively, we have to think of the short-term and long-term," Sorrentino said.
The stores are "not just there to serve the college market," he added. "There is a community of 40,000 people who look to 40th Street, so we are sensitive to that as we look to redevelopment efforts."
Sorrentino said that the University's Campus Development Plan, published in 2001, "calls for the 3900 block of Walnut Street to be a vibrant retail district with ground floor retail."
The plan also noted the potential for the development of upper-floor apartments on that block.
