Former site of jail cells; all images via Zev Yaroslavsky
Yesterday the Board of Supervisors approved funding for the restoration of the Hall of Justice. And so the building with the DC Comics-esque name is ready to get moving on its three-year-long renovation. The Hall of Justice has been vacant since the 1994 Northridge earthquake and "not so long ago was rat-infested, debris-ridden and home to the occasional transient," according to Supe Zev Yaroslavsky's blog. On Tuesday a Yaroslavsky blogger and a county photographer toured the building with Alicia Ramos, the architect who oversees the site for the Department of Public Works, and returned with these flashlight-lit photos.
It's taken years to clear away "tons of debris (including about a half million dollars’ worth of recycled jail cell bars)," but some things will stick around, including the vintage wood and brass elevator cars. The cell where Charles Manson supposedly stayed has been saved for an on-site museum, and one courtroom has been "preserved right down to its embellished plaster corbels and will be restored and used as a sheriff’s conference room." Besides seismic, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical upgrades, plans for the new HOJ include a public cafeteria and a possible employee track for the roof, the former site of "a prison yard-style exercise area for inmates."
Many more photos over at Yaroslavsky's blog.
· Touring Hall of Justice, by flashlight [Zev Yaroslavsky]
· Report Out on Fixing Up Downtown's Sad-Looking Hall of Justice [Curbed LA]
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