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HALL OF JUSTICE

Hall of Justice, 1939. Photo by Burton O. Burt, from the WPA Collection/Los Angeles Public Library.

The Conservancy has been participating in discussions with the County of Los Angeles to finalize plans for its proposed rehabilitation of the Hall of Justice building, on Temple Street in the Civic Center, as the new headquarters of the Sheriff’s Department and for other county offices. The 1926 Beaux Arts building has been vacant since the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and FEMA funding will cover a portion of the rehabilitation costs. The project will result in the exterior rehabilitation and thorough cleaning of the building, as well as the restoration of the building’s grand lobby and loggia.

The upper floors will be significantly transformed to convert the building to office space, including the top five floors that formerly served as the county’s main jail facility. It played a significant role in the criminal justice history of Los Angeles, housing such notable arrestees as “Bugsy” Siegel, Robert Mitchum, Charles Manson, and Sirhan Sirhan. The county will relocate a representative corridor of jail cells to the building’s basement, where it will be periodically accessible to the public.