Dimond Theatre
3422 Fruitvale Avenue,
Oakland,
CA
94602
3422 Fruitvale Avenue,
Oakland,
CA
94602
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox West Coast Theatres, Golden State Theater & Realty Corp.
Architects: Alexander Aimwell Cantin
Functions: Retail
Styles: Egyptian, Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: New Dimond Egyptian Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The New Dimond Egyptian Theatre was opened August 18, 1926 with Aileen Pringle in “The Wilderness Woman” plus vaudeville on the stage. It was operated by West Coast Theatres. It was still open in 1950.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
I have since gone into Crazy John’s myself to see if anything was left of the Dimond interior, and indeed, gsmurph is correct. There is nothing to see save steel roof trusses and the wood underside of the roof surface.
I have an October 31, 1931 Souvenier Program from a theatre opening in Merced CA which lists the Dimond Theatre as being part of the Golden State Theatre Corporation’s chain at that time. The program lists M. Rosenberg as being the manager of the Dimond.
There are photos of two Farmer Joe’s on the store site. One of them may be the old theater:
http://www.farmerjoesmarket.com/
That means the theater is the largest of the two stores on the website. I thought maybe it was the smaller one.
Only went to the Diamond twice. Each time we went, there was hardly anybody in there. It seemed to play pictures there that no one was interested in seeing, all the popular films showed at the Laurel, Fruitvale and Fairfax. We used to go to Junes Lone Star for hamburgers and shakes, then to a movie afterwards. Everytime we looked at the paper to decide where to go, we always skipped the Diamond because it was also just too expensive to get inside. No one seemed to miss it when it closed. I went to Cannucks on the corner to get a magnavox record player, and they were remodeling the diamond for the new Lucky supermarket. The side door was open so I walked inside to peek and looked up and all I remember seeing were steel girders, then this man came to me and asked me to leave. It didn’t look like anything was saved in there.
The theatre’s name was actually “Dimond” (the missing “a” is NOT a typo); it was named for the Dimond neighborhood, which was itself named for Hugh Dimond, an early Oakland political and civic leader.
http://oaklandwiki.org/Dimond_Theater (meant to post the link and not the photo)
This opened on August 18th, 1926. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
For theatre organ and George Wright fans, this theatre’s organ is significant. It was purchased by and installed in the home of GW’s good friend Robert “Sonny” Winborn, who was involved with Home Federal Savings, which was to eventually sponsor a GW radio show played on the Pasadena (Leslie) Studio Wurlitzer…the core of which was this Wurlitzer from the Dimond Theatre.
The legendary Ann’s Cafe on Fruitvale near MacArthur in Oakland has been closed for years after owner/chef Frances retired. It was across the street from the Dimond Theater (now Farmer Joe’s). Francis gave me a two-sided handout 35 years ago and today it surfaced while doing clean-up. It is packed with special events and giveaways. Unfortunately I am not being allowed to upload the jpegs and I do not know why. Too bad. I posted them on Bay Area Historic Theaters Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/466648040141511