Forni Mfg. (Now Doyle Hollis Park)
The popular and well-trafficked Doyle Hollis Park in the center of Northern Emeryville is an anchor of this original section of Emeryville’s Greenway.
The site, straddled by 61st & 62nd streets along Doyle, is documented as first being used by the Forni Corporation (also referred to as Forni Manufacturing) who were first established in 1922.
Founded by George Peter Forni, the Forni Corporation is considered a pioneering precast concrete firm in the Bay Area.
Precast concrete involves pouring concrete into a mould at a factory instead of pouring it directly at the construction site. Precast offers many advantages over traditional “cast-in-place” concrete including cost, speed and consistency.
Pouring Concrete was considered the family business for the Forni’s. Nattolie Forni, father of George Forni, was a general contractor in Santa Rosa in the early part of the 20th century. Nattolie Forni helped build Jack London’s historic Wolf House, laid cornerstone for the original San Francisco Ferry Building and helped restore the old Sonoma Mission.
Concrete utility boxes bearing the Forni name are still common throughout the Bay Area, a testament to their durability.
Forni Corporation moved from Emeryville to a new facility in Hayward in 1964. George Forni died in 1976 at the age 76.
The space was next occupied by the Dutro Company established in 1945 by brothers Daniel and John Dutro. Their plant was originally located at 880 60th Street in Oakland. They moved their operation to Emeryville in the 1970s.
Dutro manufactured aluminum handtrucks and dollies among other material handling equipment.
The dull, gray walls of their concrete factory were the site of what is thought to be the city’s first public mural painted by local artists Foad Satterfield & Anya Horvath. The mural included several local fixtures at the time including the Ranch House proprietor Eugene Yee and longtime resident Raymond Bayless.
Dutro continued their growth over this era bolstering their offerings to include custom fabrication of steel, aluminum, and stainless metal parts.
Daniel Dutro died in January 1976 at the age of 63.
Following the passing of his father, Daniel’s son William Dutro took over the family business. In the 1990s, they built a larger, state of the art facility in Logan, Utah ending their Bay Area history.
Emeryville, with more industry than homes throughout most of its history, had a dearth of parkspace at this time. The first public park in the city was the tiny “61st Street Mini Park” on the eastern side of Doyle Street which was built in 1976.
In the 1990s, responding to growing demands by eastern Emeryville residents for more park and open space, the city acquired this land. The factory, and sadly the mural, were demolished during this process.
Designed by Ware Architecture, Doyle Hollis Park was completed and opened to the public in 2009.
