Grosvenor Hall

The Belfast Central Mission was founded in 1889 and was an agency of the Methodist Church. The original Grosvenor Hall was built in 1896, located at 12b Grosvenor Street (originally named College Square South). In late-January 1897 the Grosvenor Hall presented the first of its “Happy Evenings” which took place regularly on Saturday and Wednesday evenings and drew huge crowds to the reels & reels of cinematograph films which were screened. These screening continued until around 1907 when purpose-built cinemas and conversions of other buildings began, although the Grosvenor Hall was still screening films in 1914.

A new Grosvenor Hall was built at 20 Grosvenor Street around 1925 which was designed by architects Young & Mackenzie. The Methodists took films to their heart saying that they benefitted their congregations. Staunch Methodist, J. Arthur Rank went on to operate Methodist Halls as venues for films with family values and eventually became head of the Rank Organisation chain of cinemas in the UK. Films were screened at the Grosvenor Hall into the 1920’s and beyond. From 1939 and into the early-1940’s the Belfast Institute Film Society screened foreign language films. Grosvenor Street was renamed Grosvenor Road in 1940. In May 1943 an Educational Film Season presented controversial films such as “Marriage Forbidden”, “Social Enemy No.1” and “Birth of a Baby”. In January 1955 it screened Niall MacGinnis in “Martin Luther” for 3-weeks. By 1957 it was screening Youth for Christ religious films sponsored by Evangelical preacher Billy Graham. Films were stopped in 1970 due to increasing civil unrest in the city which were the start of ‘The Troubles’ with the IRA in 1969.

The Grosvenor Hall was demolished in 1993.

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