State Zeroes In on Central L.A. Site for Prison
After years of controversy and political struggles, the state Department of Corrections has zeroed in on a site near downtown Los Angeles for a new 1,750-inmate prison.
Robert Gore, a spokesman for the department, said today that the state is concentrating on an eight-acre site near 12th Street and Santa Fe Avenue in a heavily industrial area a few miles southeast of the Civic Center.
“Until we are done with this evaluation, we won’t take any other action on any other sites,” Gore said.
The owner of the property, Crown Coach Corp., has offered to sell the site to the state, Gore said. Officials at the firm were not available for comment.
Placement of a new medium-security prison in Los Angeles County was called for in a bill approved by the Legislature and Gov. George Deukmejian in 1982.
The county has no state prison, but it contributes 34% of the prison population. But finding a location for the facility has been a sensitive political issue, with residents and local politicians protesting a variety of sites previously proposed.
Gore said there are no residents near the Crown Coach site and no objections to the site have been registered.
Los Angeles Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, whose district includes the proposed site, said he has not been fully informed about what the state is proposing.
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