Jury Still Out on Fate of Old Hall of Justice

Another Civic Center landmark with a colorful past faces an uncertain future.

The venerable Hall of Justice, where such famous criminals as Bugsy Siegel, Caryl Chessman, Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan were tried, sits empty, red-tagged since the Northridge earthquake.

“Only the parking lot is used,” said a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the last tenant.

For half a century, before the Criminal Courts Building was opened across the street in 1973, the Hall of Justice at Spring and Temple streets was the site of Los Angeles’ most sensational criminal proceedings.

It was convenient because the defendants could be housed in the the upstairs jail. Many were sent directly from there to Death Row at San Quentin.

Even before the earthquake, the building needed an estimated $80 million in repairs.

Now, county officials are preparing a damage assessment report for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in hopes of obtaining funding for renovation.

But even if it is repaired, officials are not sure how to use the old building. The Sheriff’s Department has moved to new quarters in Monterey Park and courts are no longer housed there.