Dugan’s Theater Café (Now Paula LeDuc Catering)
Dugan’s Hotel and Restaurant was a two-story Victorian located at the northwest corner of Park Avenue and Hollis Street (1352 Park Ave.), kitty-corner from Old Town Hall.
The structure was built after the turn of the twentieth century and opened as the Rose Hotel owned and operated by Frank Rose.
In 1912 Clinton Dugan, a retired Oakland Trotting Park jockey, and Edward Carey, Emeryville’s then Chief of Police, formed a partnership and bought the Rose Hotel changing the name to Dugan’s. Dugan’s operated a restaurant and bar on the first floor and a hotel on the second floor.
The ornate bar, custom built for the saloon, was hand carved out of cherrywood and shipped to California in a sailing boat that came around the treacherous cape horn of South America.
The business flourished until the restaurant and bar were shut down in 1913 by the District Attorney of Alameda County for serving liquor to underage girls.
It remained closed during Prohibition, but reopened in 1934 under new management as a nightclub.
The new owners, Clark J. Pickens and Oscar Klatt, spent thousands of dollars to bring the building up to code. Open 24 hours a day, Dugan’s nightclub featured a nightly floor show of “Hollywood beauties” who entertained the crowd with dancing routines. A band provided music for couples on the dance floor. The second floor operated as a bordello with Madam Helen having a reputation as taking good care of her stable of playmates.
Dugan’s survived the Depression and World War II. In the late 40s under new proprietor Frank Ciraolo, the business offered a program that included Gay 90s variety shows, dancing, cocktails and steak dinners.
The fun came to an end on the morning of February 7, 1949 when the building was gutted by fire. It never reopened and was razed to the ground.
The space operated as a Parking lot for over a decade until the current structure was built in 1966 for a company named Kin-Line. Kin-Line designed and manufactured an overhead suspension system used to install electrical conduit and sprinkler systems in commercial buildings.
Paula Le Duc catering moved in in the 1980s and has occupied the space since.
