Abercynon Workmen's Hall and Institute was opened in 1905 at a cost of over £11,000. Designed by F. Gibson, a local architect from Abercynon, and constructed by the Williams Brothers of Ynysybwl, the Abercynon Hall possessed a lending library, reading room, billiards room, and a theatre. It was also used as a cinema before the First World War with the Kinematograph Year Book recording a capacity of 5,005. This was later revised downwards to around 1,000 seats. The building survived until a devastating fire in the 1990s and was subsequently demolished.

Daryl Leeworthy, RCHAMW, 6 September 2011.