Around Oakley: Outside artists paint their own view of downtown Oakley

By Roni Gehlke
For the Contra Costa Times

Sometimes it is interesting to take a look at your town from another's perspective. Last week while driving down Main Street in downtown Oakley, passing cars had a chance to see a group of artists lined up with painting easels and brushes honing their craft. Their goal was to paint a view of Oakley's downtown curve.

"This is really a great view for an artist," said Francis Palermo, the instructor for the Open Plein Air class sponsored by Pittsburg Adult Education.

The general concept for the class is that members travel throughout East County each week finding the best views of each area and painting the general landscape.

Curiosity got the better of me on my way back from the post office, and I decided to stop and see how they viewed my hometown. The group consisted of eight artists, all at different levels of expertise.

Palmero, who was substituting for the class for a friend last week, is best known for mural art projects throughout Pittsburg, including the mural at Heritage Plaza. Palmero commented that one of the most interesting aspects of downtown Oakley is at the curve that begins on Second Street heading toward O'Hara Avenue.

"It is interesting to see the lines of the telephone poles heading down the street," Palmero said. "You don't see that very often anymore."

Several of the artists centered their paintings of watercolor, oils or pastels on the building the old-timers in Oakley call the Old Hotel. In 1910 the Dal Porto family, which consisted of patriarch Salvadore, his wife, Maria, and their five children, Anthony, Frank, Ben and twin daughters, Lena and Edith, opened the Oakley Hotel.

The original hotel, was destroyed in a fire in 1924, but a new building was quickly erected in its place and reopened in 1926. That building still stands on the corner of Second and Main streets. The building has since been refurbished with stucco walls and two-toned paint. New businesses have opened inside, and while the second floor remains vacant, a few years back the owner was interested in filling the building with suites to house small office firms.

The double-door entrance to the building still stands where in the early 1900s businessmen would stop to register for a room for the night. The old wooden doors have been replaced with glass and metal.

The front building now operates a small ethnic grocery store, but it didn't seem like any of the artists were getting too technical about the current actual inhabitants of the building.

As a matter of fact, if one were to see through the eyes of the painters, the buildings could be in any small town and drawn from any era. As Palmero pointed out, the above-ground telephone poles do tend to date the view.

Salvadore Dal Porto and his family were responsible for a good amount of business growth in downtown Oakley for his time. He not only built the hotel, but his son, Bernard, built the locally famous "Ben's Place" on the first floor of the hotel. It was known as a soft drink parlor and pool hall.
The Dal Portos also built the original post office building that is still located on Main Street across from the Old Hotel, the Oakley Garage and the Oakley Theater.

It would be interesting to know what Salvadore might think of Oakley today. He certainly didn't view those telephone poles when he first opened his hotel. Perhaps someday future Oakley residents will see one of these paintings of downtown Oakley and say, "Hey, wow, look at those telephone poles down Main Street. You don't see anything like that these days."

Roni Gehlke is an Oakley resident. Reach her at ourbackyard@comcast.net.