Oakland’s Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts reopens at Lake Merritt after 20-year closure

A long-idled landmark resumes public programming

A major piece of Oakland’s civic architecture on the edge of Lake Merritt is returning to public life after two decades. The Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, the former Oakland Municipal Auditorium and later Kaiser Convention Center, closed in 2005 and has since undergone a multi-year rehabilitation intended to restore its performance spaces and bring the building back into regular cultural use.

The venue sits near downtown and Chinatown, adjacent to other civic destinations along the lake. Its closure removed a large-capacity stage from Oakland’s cultural infrastructure, leaving mid-sized and larger performing arts presentations to rely on a smaller number of venues across the East Bay.

What is reopening, and what the building contains

The Kaiser Center is reopening with multiple event and performance spaces under one roof. The complex includes a main arena footprint, the Calvin Simmons Theater as a primary proscenium venue, and additional rooms designed for concerts, receptions, community gatherings, and other programming. Organizers have described the renovated spaces as restored for contemporary events while retaining key historic architectural elements.

• Calvin Simmons Theater: a restored proscenium theater with updated seating, accessibility improvements, and modern production systems.
• Arena and additional rooms: configured for a mix of performances and community events, with flexible use options.
• Outdoor connections: public-facing circulation and nearby plaza improvements have been part of broader efforts to strengthen pedestrian access and the venue’s relationship to the Lake Merritt waterfront.

How the project moved forward

Redevelopment of the Kaiser Center has been in planning for years and entered a construction phase in the early 2020s, following a long period in which the building remained largely dormant. The project’s structure has involved a long-term arrangement to rehabilitate and operate the property, alongside commitments tied to arts programming, community access, and governance for the theater component.

During the redevelopment period, proposed uses for major interior areas evolved, including revisions to earlier concepts for the building’s largest spaces. The reopening marks the transition from renovation and limited preview events to regular scheduling and venue operations.

Programming and near-term public events

Public events in the renovated theater have already taken place during the broader reopening process. The venue has also scheduled an “Opening Weekend” community celebration for January 23–24, 2026, framing the moment as a formal return to full public activity after years of construction and intermittent milestones.

The reopening restores a centrally located, mid-to-large-capacity performance site to Oakland’s venue network, with multiple rooms that can be programmed simultaneously.

What the reopening means for Oakland’s arts ecosystem

With the Kaiser Center returning, Oakland regains a historic, multi-venue complex capable of hosting touring productions, local performing arts organizations, and civic-scale community events near transit and the Lake Merritt corridor. The next measure of the reopening will be operational: sustained scheduling, stable partnerships with local arts groups, and the building’s ability to function as a consistent public gathering place rather than an occasional special-event site.