Frontier Cinema, 2 John Mitchel Place, Newry, Co Down, BT34 2BP

Frontier Cinema

A symmetrical three-storey, three-bay building dating from the early 20th century, situated on John Mitchel Place in Newry. The building is constructed of red brick with granite quoins to the upper floors and rendered dressings to openings. The slated pitched roof is finished with raised parapet gables and brick chimney stacks to each end, topped with modern concrete copings.

The ground floor features a recessed arched central door with a semicircular fanlight, flanked by rendered pilasters supporting corbel brackets. These brackets support a bay window above, creating an entrance canopy that extends across the façade to form a cornice at the base of the first floor. Original shop fronts flank the central entrance on either side, now largely obscured by face-mounted metal roller shutter doors. Fascia lettering on the left reads "Founded 1883" with "Irish National Foresters John Mitchel Branch" below, while the right side reads "Erected 1906" and "Frontier Cinema". Pilasters mark each end of the ground floor.

The first floor is dominated by a large canted bay at the centre, rendered in finish and resting on the rectangular canopy projection, which is topped with two floral relief semi-circular mouldings. The bay, capped with a balustraded parapet around its roof, contains three timber windows with the middle one being the widest. To either side of the bay is a timber window (one fixed light over two opening casements) within a decorative rendered surround, with granite cills and rendered apron panels.

The second floor contains four 1/1 sliding sash windows with segmental heads. The middle two windows are paired above the central bay roof, which supports a flagpole. Window surrounds are in curved canted brick specials, with granite cills and small rendered apron panels. The wall is finished with a projecting cornice and an open balustrade above, divided into three sections with brick piers containing rendered recessed panels.

The building was erected in 1906 as the Mitchel Memorial Hall, opening in March 1907, with construction having begun the previous year. First cited in the 1908 entry of the valuation revision book. The Irish National Foresters' Benefit Society, which founded a Newry branch in 1885, used the building as a meeting hall. In 1912, the Mitchel Memorial Assembly Hall was added at the rear to house a cinema. In 1923, a bar and refreshment room were also opened. The building is situated within a conservation area.