Local movie buffs who've ventured far and wide to witness the spectacular brilliance of giant IMAX screen movies will soon be treated to the experience closer to home.

Penn Cinema has signed an agreement with IMAX Corp. to show movies in a new 20,000-square-foot complex in Manheim Township that will feature two restaurants, Penn Ketchum, Penn Cinema managing partner, said Monday.

Ketchum said Penn Cinema will build a 425-seat IMAX theater that is flanked by two 5,000-square-foot restaurants. The new $5 million project, to be built on the east side of the existing theater off Airport Road, is on a four-acre parcel of land that is leased from Lancaster Airport.

Construction is set to begin this summer, and the theater is scheduled to open by November, in time for the premier of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I" (or Harry Potter 7), Ketchum said.

Ketchum said that customers have clamored for the IMAX experience, which will feature mind-blowing digital sound in both 3-D and 2-D movies beaming from a 6-story wraparound screen.

"Films are sent to IMAX studios in Toronto where technicians correct and master every frame of the film for perfect color, aspect ratio and sound," Ketchum said. "Our new building will match the specs perfectly of the IMAX studio, so it will always produce a consistent, superior product."

He said the IMAX theater is a good fit for Lancaster County because it is a regional draw that typically has a "significant impact on tourism."

Currently, the closest IMAX theaters are at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg, R/C Reading Movies 11 and IMAX in Reading and UA Movies 11 and IMAX in King of Prussia.

"When you look at premier tourist destination you'll notice mostly all have an IMAX," Ketchum said. "People from Lancaster are currently driving to Harrisburg and Reading and even as far as Philly to have the IMAX experience."

Ketchum said he is negotiating with companies that are interested in opening a restaurant next to the IMAX. He said the restaurants could sell alcohol.

"It's not a deal breaker either way," Ketchum said. "I'm not opposed to it. I'm not requiring it."

Penn Cinema decided to add the IMAX after it ditched plans to build a free-standing restaurant. Ketchum said plans failed to lure a restaurant chain such as an Olive Garden or a local restaurant to the site where the new IMAX building will go.

"Local restaurants who understand the value of what's going on Airport Road, were not in an economic position to expand their operations," Ketchum said.

"And then the big boys, none of them wanted to be off (Route) 501."

The new building will be separated from the existing 14-screen, 2,206-seat theater by a courtyard. Plans call for adding 327 parking spaces to increase total spaces to 924, Ketchum said.

Ketchum said the project requires a special exception from Manheim Township.

He said he is confident that the township zoning board will approve the project at its meeting in April and that commissioners are also on board with the plan.

"The township has been great with us,;they are very clear on their expectations and what they require," Ketchum said. "They are very comfortable with us and we're very comfortable working with them."

Members of the Lancaster Airport Authority on Monday offered their support for the project during the board's regular month meeting. The board in 2006 signed a lease agreement with Penn Cinema, which two years later completed a $2 million upgrade that made it the second-largest theater complex in Lancaster County, trailing Regal Cinemas on Millersville Pike, which has 16 screens.

Ketchum said he was interested in building an IMAX theater when Penn Cinema was originally constructed. However, his company nixed the idea because IMAX didn't make enough commercial films to make it profitable for a privately owned theater.

"But IMAX has changed its business model, which began making educational films and documentaries that you'd would see in museums," Ketchum said. "It still makes educational films but now it puts out as many as 10 commercial films per year that we can show"