Things to do in Oakland, California (CA): The Best Traveler Resources

Discover an airport lounge that's fresh, modern, comfortable & inviting. Put your feet up, catch up on last minute business, or simply enjoy some peace and quiet. Enjoy complimentary food & drink from Oakland chef, Chris Pastena, with additional upgraded menu items at extra charge. USD$45 plus taxes walk up, $40 plus taxes when pre booked online in advance.

Located across from Laney College near Lake Merritt and the Estuary at 10 10th St Oakland, CA 94607 the Oakland Municipal Auditorium (a.k.a. The Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center) includes the 1,900 seat formal Calvin Simmons Theater, and a multi-purpose arena, which seats up to 4,500 people. The Oakland Municipal Auditorium was opened in 1914 has been used for everything from the provision of emergency medical services in the Flu pandemic of 1918, to Grateful Dead and Oakland Ballet performances to the Black Panther Party Black Community Survival Conference and the Green Party Presidential Campaign of Ralph Nader.Mayor Jerry Brown closed the auditorium in 2006, allegedly because of a slight operating deficit, but more likely in an attempt to set up the sale of the property in the booming real estate market of the time. The Convention Center was one of the few large venues staffed by Union workers and many labor unions and left political groups used the hall because it paid the workers decent wages. When Brown closed the hall 20 workers lost good paying union jobs and the community lost a locale for everything from high school graduations to AC/DC concerts. The supposed annual budget savings were $300,000 a year. (City staff recently estimated that in the intervening five years $5,000,000 to $9,000,000 worth of decay had occurred in the property. ) Jobs, public service and economic stimulus of a vital downtown jewel were destroyed due to property speculation. (Even the Citty’s 1% were hurt—the Oakland Ballet which used the Calvin Simmons Theater in the Center became homeless and went out of business for over a year.) The property has been left largely vacant, except for some isolated event rentals since then. In 2011, in a paperwork shuffle the City of Oakland sold the property to its the Redevelopment agency (the City Council is the board of the Redevelopment Agency).

The recently renovated Oakland Convention Center is conveniently located in downtown Oakland only ten minutes from the Oakland International Airport. Right outside the doors of the convention center you will find Oakland's Chinatown, Old Oakland, Preservation Park, shopping and within a few short blocks the waterfront, Jack London Square and the Paramount Theatre. Offering 64,000 square feet of exhibition and meeting space and adjoining the convention center is the Oakland Marriott City Center, with an additional 25,000 square feet of flexible meeting space and 483 deluxe guest rooms. Just a short walk from Oakland Convention Center is the beautiful bayside Jack London Square, Chinatown's 25 blocks of shops and restaurants, the Oakland Museum of California, Lake Merritt's Lakeside Park and the bustling Oakland City Center.