Hi,
So theres a building in my town that’s currently an independent locally run restaurant. It has won some awards too.
I’m concerned it will get marked as generic business though.
It is also in a building that used to be a cinema, closing in the 80s i believe. It was the last cinema our small town had.
What’s interesting (to me at least) is the exterior architecture still holds details that harken back to that retro cinema look like the parapet. I find it interesting because a lot of people probably don’t realise its former function and it stands out amongst the other buildings in my town that all share generic townhouse architecture.
Do you think it would be a valid nomination as a business or building for architectural focal points, both, neither?
Please ignore the clearly bad edits, i had to remove people in front of the building and the location name on the top of the building.
From your description, I would try this. Do you have links to prove what you say? Even if the community rejects, you could appeal.
Without seeing the information you have on this, I would try this as the restaurant with the appeal of the historical building being an factor in why it is worthy of the exploration criteria.
It certainly could be submitted as either, but the building may be better, especially if you can provide links to prove the historical value. It does look like it once had a marquee to advertise the films being shown, just under the restaurant name, where the empty space is.
One reason I lean more towards the building is that if the business changes, then the Wayspot may have to be removed, but if it’s focused on the building, then that’s the Wayspot and it wouldn’t have to be removed if another business moved in. Most of the historic buildings in my downtown area are like this, with the buildings having Wayspots instead of the businesses. Many businesses have come and gone from these buildings, but the buildings still stand, so their Wayspots haven’t been removed.
I have pdfs that i could link, from the town councils website.
I also found it listed on our goverments data base of heritage buildings with the following appraisal:
“This former cinema is a fine and imposing building in a muted Modern style that has been renovated to ground floor in the late twentieth century, leading to the loss of some of the original appearance and character to that portion – the insertion of a traditional-style timber pubfront is not in keeping with the style of the remainder of the building. The cinema is typical of many of the designs for rural Irish cinemas in the early to mid twentieth century, comprising a barn-style structure fronted with a façade of Modern aspirations, and the undulating profile of the façade together with a stepped parapet wall is a characteristic shared with many other cinema buildings throughout the country, many of which are now lost. The cinema is of some social and cultural interest, and forms an attractive feature on the streetscape of [Redacted], with the stepped parapet adding variety to the roofline of the street.”
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That’s a good point as to why submitting it as a building would possible be better. I didn’t know how to reply to both of you at once, but above I’ve inserted a description from the givernments heritage buildings database.
with this information, i would submit it as a building then! sounds like the building will be be preserved. and mention the restaurant as how the building is being used currently. i did something similar:
(i usually put more in the description nowadays XD)
not saying this is a perfect blueprint how to submit it, but is how i did one in 2022. this is one of those rare occasions when i used a supporting photo that was a closeup instead of further back because Street View clearly showed the location of the house and the restaurant sign.
This is an old cinema that I did.
I was fortunate to have the name still there, and a good local history group to fill out the story. Telling how the building reveals part of the social history of the area is nice to weave in.
What does it look like from the side? I usually go for a straight on photo like you have, but sometimes old cinemas reveal their past through the shape of building.
Good luck
