{"nrhp_refnum":"79000468","name":"Fox-Oakland Theater","other_names":["Fox-Oakland Theater &","Complex"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1807--1829 Telegraph Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oakland","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.80883853500006,"lon":-122.27017197299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-02-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A movie palace and mixed-use complex at 1807-1829 Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland, California, built in 1927 and opened October 1928. It combines a theater of about 4,000 seats originally with 37 shops and 91 offices.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it was Oakland's premier deluxe theater and the last grand theater completed before the 1929 crash. It was Oakland's first mixed-use complex and, with the Paramount, I. Magnin and the Oakland Flower Market, forms one of the last remaining nuclei of Art Deco downtown Oakland. It also served the city's minority residents, who were barred from other deluxe theaters.","narrative":"Rising above Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland, the Fox Oakland Theater is a movie palace and commercial complex finished in 1928. Designed by Weeks & Day and built by Maury L. Diggs, it joined a theater that originally seated almost 4,000 with 37 street-level shops and 91 offices. Its entrance foyer climbs 100 feet to a colored tile dome modeled on a Northern Indian temple, and the plaster interior features Hindu figures beside the stage and Islamic-style ceiling patterns. Art Deco lettering and Zig Zag Moderne details appear throughout. The nomination holds that it was Oakland's premier deluxe theater, the largest west of Chicago when built, and the last grand theater completed before the 1929 crash. It was also the city's first mixed-use complex, and its success encouraged construction of the Paramount. Alterations include removal of the glass beacon, chandeliers, a Maynard Dixon mural and the organ, though the building remains largely as built.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Weeks & Day, architects; Maury L. Diggs, builder","architectural_style":"Northern Indian temple imagery combined with Art Deco / Zig Zag Moderne elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in sound physical condition, partially occupied; the chandeliers, Maynard Dixon mural, organ and original seats have been removed, and the foyer was closed off by a suspended ceiling in 1946. Newspaper clippings describe the theater as dark and vacant for several years.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.453254-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/79000468.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000468/ad1f81e6d9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000468/ad1f81e6d9-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Photographed by Paul Stokstad, August 2002.","credit_html":"Photographed by Paul Stokstad, August 2002., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fox_Oakland_Theatre.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858224","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Oakland_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5476853"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/fox-oakland-theater-79000468/"}