The Frontignan cinema will be transformed into a performance hall

L’actuel cinéma de la ville va devenir une salle de spectacle. Midi Libre – PHILIPPE MALRIC

Le conseil municipal de Frontignan a validé l’évolution du bâtiment qui abrite le CinéMistral.

The cinema in Frontignan is – soon – over. At least in the building that has housed CinéMistral since 1997. While the big screens will be used in the first half of 2025 in the new cultural center on Quai Voltaire, the question arises as to what will become of the current site on Boulevard Mistral. The answer, validated by the last municipal council, is as follows: it will be a performance hall.

No suitable hall in town

The observation is simple. Frontignan, the second largest municipality in the agglomeration, does not have a hall dedicated to cultural performances. Furthermore, as Valérie Maillard, the deputy for culture, explained, the Aire hall, which was once considered, “cannot constitute a worthy basis for municipal cultural programming”. Finally, the Mathieu house, the name of the building, is perfectly placed in the City Policy sector.

Dance and circus arts

The room, once modified (a stage of 8m by 6m will have to be set up in front of a hundred seats at a cost of 200,000 euros), will be opened“to live performances, particularly dance and circus arts, the heart of the municipal cultural project”, the elected official specified. A presentation that did not convince the opposition. “We will vote against”, announced Gérard Prato, fearing that the financial exploitation of this hall would be combined with that of the future cultural center.

A promise from candidate Arrouy

“It was something I had announced during the election campaign, specified Mayor Michel Arrouy. We are simply implementing the program on which we were elected. We no longer want residents to go elsewhere to attend shows". Faced with Gérard Prato's doubts about this electoral promise, the mayor's services produced a few moments later, an interview with the then candidate Arrouy expressing this project in all its letters…

I subscribe to read the rest