L.A. COUNTY HALL OF JUSTICE TO BE DEMOLISHED?

Above, the Hall of Justice sits next to the uncompleted Hollywood Freeway in the late 1940s.

L.A. COUNTY HALL OF JUSTICE TO BE DEMOLISHED?

by Armand Vaquer

The Los Angeles County Hall of Justice, an ornate building that has been sitting vacant in Downtown Los Angeles for fifteen years, is allegedly to be demolished.

The building once housed the county courts, jail, district attorney, sheriff's office and county coroner. Many celebrities were autopsied there including Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and George Reeves. Charles Manson and his family of killers were housed there while on trial.

Tonight, workers with the Asplund company, contractors for the L.A. Department of Water and Power, told a co-worker and I that they were cutting off electricity to the L.A. County Hall of Justice in preparation for the building to be demolished by explosives. They did not specify when this is to take place.

This is contrary to recent reports that the Board of Supervisors ordered a study on restoring the building.

No lights were on inside the building, although we can hear the buzz from a generator somewhere.

The Hall of Justice was built in 1925 and it has sat unoccupied for earthquake retrofitting since the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The interior is completely gutted and it has been slated to become the headquarters of the Los Angeles County Sheriff.

Millions have been spent so far on the building, so it seems peculiar that it would be set for demolition after these expenditures.

According a December 1 motion by the Board of Supervisors, the building is structurally sound. It was said that current lower construction costs could also reduce the price of the restoration project by about 20% or more. Also, low financing rates and available federal funds could make the project feasible, according to a Board spokesman.

The Chief Executive Officer of L.A. County is to report back to the Board within 45 days on the cost of the project along with a cost-comparison to detail the savings of transferring departments back to the building.

Further investigation will be conducted. Someone is either misinformed or maybe a decision has already been reached by the Board.

The Hall of Justice is a great building that deserves to be restored to its original splendor.