2013 photo courtesy andrewalden
The West Coast Macaroni Factory is a large brick building at 1250 - 57th Avenue. It was built in 1929 for the West Coast Macaroni Company.
West Coast Macaroni Company
The West Coast Macaroni Company had its roots in Fresno. A 1949 article indicates it was founded by Domenico Merlino and Alfonzo Borrelli, after they founded the Fresno Macaroni Company. Merlino was suing Borrelli and the companies for being ousted after a dispute. 5 Some articles refer to West Coast Macaroni as a subsidiary of Fresno Macaroni.
A fire badly damaged the building in 1948. 4
At some point the company had become the Perfection Macaroni Company, and in 1971 it was purchased by the American Beauty Macaroni Company of Los Angeles. The article mentions manufacturing in Fresno and sales in Oakland, but there's no mention of the Oakland factory. 6 It's not known when the name changed, but there are local references to Perfection Macaroni (for a women's bowling team) as early as 1953.
1950 Sanborn excerpt
Later Uses
About 1969, the building was purchased by artist Peter Voulkos, 3 who received his masters from the California College of the Arts and Crafts, and later founded the ceramics program at UC Berkeley and taught there.
In 1975, it was the live-work loft of sculptor Anita Mardikian. 2
In 2019, Daniel Peters and Brenda Luckin opened the MAC Fine Arts Gallery there. 3
Links and References
- Rapid Growth of Industrial Dist. Shown Oakland Tribune April 28, 1929
- Living Is an Art for Anita Oakland Tribune August 31, 1975 (p2)
- Oakland Curators Open New Fine Arts Gallery at Historic West Coast Macaroni Factory in East Oakland PR NewsWire July 1, 2019
- $500,000 Oakland Plant Fire Oakland Post Enquirer December 6, 1948 (p2)
- Damage Suit OK'd By Appeals Court Oakland Tribune February 15, 1949
- Perfection Sold To L.A. Company Oakland Tribune October 19, 1971
