Bid to Repair County Hall Gains Steam

Once the hub of the Los Angeles County justice system and the temporary home to such criminals as Bugsy Siegel and Charles Manson, the Los Angeles Hall of Justice has remained empty since it was red-tagged after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Sheriff Lee Baca has repeatedly called for rehabilitation of the historic Italian Renaissance-style structure in hopes of moving his offices back downtown, but other earthquake rebuilding projects and the city’s unsuccessful effort to interest the private sector in the building have stalled the plans.

Last week, however, the building moved one step closer to resuscitation when Baca unveiled a department reorganization proposal that includes a move from the department’s current headquarters in Monterey Park back to the hall.

This time Baca has the support of the county’s chief administrative officer, who will recommend early next month that the county Board of Supervisors consider redevelopment proposals for the hall.

Even covered in dust and littered with the occasional dead pigeon, the building’s marble entrance hall--with brass railings, a gilded ceiling and a stained-glass window--ranks among the county’s most ornate architecture. It’s worth preserving in a town that has maintained few of its historic sites, said Christopher Stone, head of earthquake recovery for the county Public Works Department.

“The county looks at it as very important to save this building because of when it was built, and because it is unique,” Stone said.

But some worry that the cost of rehabilitation is too great for the county to bear. Even before the quake, much of the building was vacant, including its four-story jail, which has cells so small that officials have compared it to a dungeon.

“My gut tells me it’s way too expensive. Having moved everyone out and spending all this money to move people back in, it’s not worth it,” said Joel Ballman, press deputy for Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky of the 3rd District.

In addition to housing the jail, the hall, built in 1925, was once home to the county coroner’s office, Superior Courts, and the district attorney’s and public defender’s offices.

It’s where Marilyn Monroe’s body was autopsied, and where Sirhan Sirhan was tried for the murder of Robert Kennedy.

Stone said the hall has remained vacant in part because the city has been focusing on other, easier repairs. “We had over 1,000 buildings to repair from Northridge, and now we are down to about 80,” he said.

Les Detweiler of the chief administrative office said the cost of the rehabilitation could be $80 million to $100 million.

But it might be even higher. Retired sheriff’s official Bob Ciulik said $80 million was the estimate for repairs even before the Northridge earthquake. It was that need for renovation that caused the sheriff’s headquarters to move out a year before the temblor.

“We were still there in 1993, and I remember tiles actually falling on a secretary’s desk,” Ciulik said. “Sometimes water would leak down from the jails to the offices. You didn’t know where it was from.”

In addition to the structural repairs necessitated by the quake damage, the building’s entire plumbing system needs to be overhauled, a heating and cooling system must be added, and widespread asbestos needs to be covered or removed, officials say.

Much of the cost would be shouldered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which agreed to pay for 90% of the quake repairs. But a number of necessary upgrades, unrelated to the seismic damage, might not be covered by FEMA, said Tim McDonald, one of the agency’s California specialists.

Because of the steep price, private developers who initially expressed interest have shied away.

“It’s a historic structure, so you are working not just with government but with preservationists. You’d have to replace all the vitals. . . . and then there’s the lack of parking,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., a private business association.

But many believe that the expense would be worthwhile. “It wouldn’t cost more than to build a new one, and the county definitely needs the space,” Stone said.

Detweiler said that ultimately the county would come out ahead. He estimated that if employees could be relocated to the hall, the county could save about $5 million annually in leased office space.

Although the Sheriff’s Department has been most vocal about a desire to return to the hall, officials say the building belongs first to the county.

“It may or may not be occupied by the sheriffs. There are a number of justice-related agencies that are in need of space,” said Miguel Santana, a spokesman for Supervisor Gloria Molina, whose district includes downtown. No matter what happens, it’s unlikely the jail will reopen.

Santana said the county has many pressing needs, but he added, “If the cost of giving those dollars to a private developer to build a facility we lease can go to revitalizing a beautiful building in downtown Los Angeles, then that’s the cost-benefit analysis we need to do.”