OJAI : Park Planner Urges Demolishing Old Jail

Ojai’s old jail, shrouded by oaks in Libbey Park, should be removed to give the 18-acre park more open space, a consultant says.

Built in the early 1920s, the jail was used by Ojai police for more than 50 years until a new police station opened a block away in 1978.

The jail reportedly housed 650 prisoners over the years.

Robert Royston, a landscape architect, recently urged the Ojai Parks and Recreation Commission to demolish the tiny jail, calling it a depressing reminder of what man does to man.

The reinforced concrete is ugly, and the four, two-person cells behind the steel door are dank, formidable and “absolutely atrocious,” Royston said.

The city hired Royston’s Mill Valley firm for $38,000 last year to design improvements to Sarzotti and Daly parks and to expand his 1973 plan for Libbey Park.

Parks commissioners discussed Royston’s proposal and added 16 suggestions. They will review it again in September.

Royston said Tuesday that he was unaware that the city’s Historical Preservation Commission lists the jail among 300 notable Ojai structures.

The list is used to recommend historical landmarks, Commissioner Betty McAllister said.

“I always liked that little jail. Maybe we need to be reminded,” she said.

City Manager Andrew Belknap said the structure, which has eight-inch-thick walls, would be difficult to relocate.

“I’d hate to see it go,” said Vincent France of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. France served as an Ojai police officer before he became the city’s chief of police in 1975.

“The conditions weren’t all that bad. It was like a little home for some people,” France said. “They ate their meals at Loops or we took food to them. We used to open up the big door in the summer for a bit of a breeze.”