L.A. County to consider reopening Hall of Justice [Updated]
Los Angeles County’s Hall of Justice, vacant since it was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, might be reopened.
The Board of Supervisors today ordered staff to prepare a report within 45 days on the feasibility of again using the facility. They noted that construction costs have decreased over the last year as available federal funds have increased.
The ornate 14-story building, at the corner of Temple Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, once housed county courts and coroner's, sheriff's and district attorney's offices, and a jail. Built in 1925, it has a storied history in the annals of local justice.
The hall was among 26 county buildings shut down in the immediate aftermath of the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake. At the time, then-Sheriff Sherman Block said damage had rendered the department's data systems there -- including computers, automated fingerprint systems and criminal history information -- at least temporarily useless. He estimated the cost of repairing the building at $100 million, a figure he said probably meant it would be permanently vacated.
The possibility of reopening the Hall of Justice was revisited in 2001 after Sheriff Lee Baca pushed a plan to relocate there but deemed by other county leaders as too costly to pursue.
[Updated at 4:25 p.m.: Baca’s spokesman, Steve Whitmore, said this afternoon that his boss was “very gratified” that the idea was moving forward now.
“He thinks that the Hall is where the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department should be headquartered,” Whitmore said. “Not only is it an important landmark, he believes the department’s history is there, and it is physically at the center of Los Angeles County.”]
-- Garrett Therolf, reporting from the Hall of Administration
Photo: Hall of Justice in 2001. Credit: Robert Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times
EDITOR'S PICKS:
YES! It's such a beautiful building! A landmark for downtown.
Posted by: Steve | December 01, 2009 at 05:29 PM
Why would anyone even consider reopening the dilapidated "Hall of Justice", that speaks more to LA's deplorable past and top down police corruption and racial bias, than any notion of true justice? There are true dummies in City Hall.
Posted by: JEFF | December 01, 2009 at 05:41 PM
I love this building and would love to see it back in commission. More activity and jobs for downtown is always a good thing!
Posted by: Brian | December 01, 2009 at 06:02 PM
Hamilton Burger would be proud to see this great Los Angeles edifice reopened and restored to it rightful grandeur. No objections.
Posted by: Paul Drake | December 01, 2009 at 06:42 PM
But then the Legion of Doom will know where our heroes are headquartered!
Posted by: superfriends | December 01, 2009 at 06:48 PM
I thought there were budget deficits in various levels of government, no? How can we afford this now? I smell pork.
Posted by: Jon | December 01, 2009 at 08:10 PM
There is no such thing as justice in Los Angeles County -- in sacred halls or otherwise.*
*(This does not hold true if you have access to a rather large bank account0.
Posted by: RP | December 01, 2009 at 09:12 PM
Cue Ted Knight... "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice!"
Posted by: Wil | December 01, 2009 at 09:36 PM
Excuse me? How can this be for real? HOW?
With commercial space abundant in LA, we need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for this? Our state is bankrupt, we have pitiful freeways and an anemic mass transit system, we have hundreds of homeless living in the streets of downtown and the county wants to spend this money? Hello? I know that's a historic building, but if it was so damaged that it could not be used, it probably should have been red tagged.
This is the most shocking thing I have heard in a long time.
Posted by: PeterLF | December 01, 2009 at 10:15 PM
Please reopen this wonderful building! My grandfather worked here for most of his career and it is truly unique.
Posted by: suzanne | December 02, 2009 at 09:27 AM
This beautiful building should be brought back to life as a project to bring life back to Downtown -- HOUSING !! Johnny Depp moved into up scale historic housing in the Eastern Columbia; why wouldn't more celebs and wealthy invest into a gorgeous building like this. We don't need more gov't buildings where the employees all leave Downtown after 5 p.m.
Posted by: Michael | December 02, 2009 at 09:33 AM
Apparently, the money is free because it is "Federal." It won't cost L.A. County a thing!
Posted by: JayCeezy | December 02, 2009 at 09:36 AM
The city cannot afford to pony up and $$ on this, or anyother building. If Baca wants it, let it come out of his budget! This city is BROKE!!!
Posted by: Don Teofilo | December 02, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Hey Jeff, Dummy its not City Hall its the Board of Supervisors and Hall of Administration.
Posted by: MdW | December 03, 2009 at 07:43 AM