Above, the dark catacombs of the L.A. County Hall of Justice basement.Inside The Hall of Justice
Text and photos by Armand Vaquer
Years ago, before the Los Angeles County Coroner was relocated to its present facility on north Mission Road (hence the name of the show Chuck Harter appeared in on a George Reeves segment), the Coroner's facilities were located in the basement of the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles.
Due to the 1993 Northridge Earthquake, the Hall of Justice was closed down for retrofitting. It has been a slow process and it has pretty much stopped due to funding issues. Eventually, it is said, the building (built in 1925) will house the headquarters of the Los Angeles County Sheriff. Why let a good building go to waste?
As the building's interior has been gutted, and the county doesn't seem to have the money to fund the retrofit project to completion, the company I work for has been contracted to secure the location. This week, I went down to the basement of the Hall of Justice, with camera in hand, after hearing that the autopsy tables were still inside. Unfortunately, they weren't. But it is interesting to go into the basement to see where the Coroner conducted the autopsies of such celebrities as George Reeves, Marilyn Monroe, Robert F. Kennedy and others.
The way the interior looks now, it reminded me of either Castle Dracula or Carfax Abbey in the 1931 Dracula. The only thing missing was a coffin with the Dracula Crest on the lid. The only lighting in the basement was from my flashlight and the flash of my camera. It was almost pitch black in the basement. Pretty spooky! And I've heard stories of hauntings at the building.
Above, the basement of the Hall of Justice. Could this slab be where an autopsy table was mounted?
Above, another slab. Was an autopsy table here?
Above, crates of marble slabs and bricks are sitting in the basement, waiting to be installed in the Hall of Justice when the retrofit project is completed.
Interesting blog post, Armand.
ReplyDeleteDid you check the tunnels? In the early 90's I worked for LA County and decided to explore the northern end of the tunnel complex - all of the downtown county buildings are linked by tunnels - and I found the coroner's office, or parts of it. These rooms were along the tunnel.
The tables were still there in their cramped little rooms, and they appeared to be of 1930's vintage. I may have only seen one table; I do recall that it was white enamel, and very archaic looking. The doors were very old wooden ones, with frosted glass.
At the time I was astonished that the coroner, particularly in a county as large as L.A.'s, could ever have worked in such substandard conditions (the narrow tunnels literally looked like something out of an old horror movie), but looking back I'd imagine that I was actually seeing the original coroner's area of antiquity, and that the offices of the Noguchi era may have been in an improved location, e.g., where you were searching.
I have some other info; maybe you can leave an email address.
-Mike
Thanks for your reply, Mike. You can reach me via my profile.
ReplyDeleteI've seen one tunnel (it is blocked off and locked, but you can peek in-between the cracks) that goes to the criminal courts building. It was too dark to detect any rooms in it, though.
I'd love to see a floorplan of the basement where the coroner's facilities were located. As the building has been stripped of all walls, ceilings and fixtures (and frosted glass), leaving only bare concrete walls, it is hard to tell where everything was once located. I've looked for old photos of the coroner's facilities in the Hall of Justice, but have been unable to find any. - A.