Baltimore's 71-year-old Senator Theatre will either continue as a full-time movie venue or morph into a performing-arts center and home to Towson University's WTMD radio, officials of the quasi-public agency charged with mapping its future announced Tuesday.

"We felt that these were the most comprehensive proposals," said Kimberly Clark, executive director of the Baltimore Development Corp., which had received four proposals from individuals or companies interested in operating the Senator. The theater had been purchased by the city in July, with the promise that it would continue operating as an anchor for the surrounding community, including the subsidized Belvedere Square district.

One proposal, from Charles Theatre owner James "Buzz" Cusack, would preserve the Senator as a full-time movie theater. Cusack's plans call for restaurants on both sides of the theater, in much the same way as the Charles is flanked by Tapas Teatro and Sofi's Crepes.

The second proposal, submitted by Towson University and WTMD, would transform the Senator into a performing arts center similar to Philadelphia's World Cafe, a joint effort between a private company (Real Entertainment Group) and Philadelphia's public radio station, WXPN.

By focusing on the Cusack and Towson proposals, BDC officials turned down plans that would have surrounded the 900-seat theater with condominiums or turned it into a privately run entertainment facility.

The BDC plans to ask for more detailed financial information on the two remaining proposals, Clark said, before deciding between them.

A review committee, including many residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, had been studying the proposals since they were submitted in December, and those from Cusack and Towson were the clear favorites, Clark said.

The committee, which is scheduled to begin meeting again next month, could recommend one proposal over the other, Clark said, or leave that decision up to the BDC. A final decision could be made as early as March, she said.