Business, Tourism Complex Proposed Near Pitchess Jail

Come to Pitchess and stay for the weekend: Golf. Tennis. Jail.

If Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich has his way, the Pitchess Detention Center near Castaic could become a neighbor to the county’s newest business and entertainment complex, including a hotel, golf course and conference center.

Antonovich, who represents the area, said the idea of placing a tourist facility within walking distance of thousands of frequently riotous prisoners isn’t so odd as it sounds.

“There are towns and cities with prisons in other areas that don’t seem to be affected in a negative way by having inmates nearby,” Antonovich said, citing downtown Los Angeles and Marin County, home to San Quentin State Prison, as examples. “And we need to look at using some of the county’s surplus land to generate revenue.”

The idea of building a golf course and hotel on the 2,800 acres the county owns around the Pitchess site is actually more than 20 years old and originated during the term of one of Antonovich’s predecessors, former Supervisor Warren M. Dorn.

“[Former county Sheriff] Peter Pitchess and myself were trying to make some money off the land out there,” said Dorn, who now lives in Morro Bay. “The feeling then and now is that it is too valuable to sit there empty.”

Dorn said the county nearly persuaded officials at Magic Mountain amusement park to locate at the site, but the park was eventually placed a few miles south.

The development plan languished until several weeks ago when Dorn dropped by Antonovich’s office and suggested the plan be relaunched, officials said.

This time, Dorn suggested--and Antonovich agreed--that if the plan passes muster, the golf course should be named for comedian and golf enthusiast Bob Hope.

“I think it would be a nice gesture,” Antonovich said. “And who has done more for people around the world than Bob Hope?”

The 93-year-old Hope, who lives in Toluca Lake, has entertained U.S. service members around the world since World War II. Hope could not be reached for comment, but Dorn said Hope is “honored and excited” about naming the course in his honor.

On Monday, Antonovich delayed action on the proposal until the supervisors meeting on Jan. 14. In the interim, he said his staff will fine-tune the plan.

The Sheriff’s Department supports the plan, Antonovich said, and any money raised through the venture would probably be divided between the Sheriff’s Department and the county’s general fund.

Antonovich concedes that developers might not be interested in placing a major hotel and golf course on 400 acres of county jail property.

But Dorn maintains that he knows at least eight people who want to make bids on the site.

Both pointed out that each of the county’s 18 golf courses generates money for the cash-poor county government, and Antonovich said that building a course near the popular Castaic Lake State Recreation Area would continue that trend.

“This is a beautiful area and there are a lot of people who live near there on both sides of the county line who might use it,” Antonovich said.

But others might be more concerned about playing golf, holding business meetings and spending long weekends in the shadow of the sprawling Pitchess jail.

“It might not be a place I’d like to spend a lot of time, but at least if you’re golfing you’d have your nine-iron for protection,” said a sheriff’s deputy who works in the area.

In recent years, dozens of racial brawls that have erupted two or three times each month have given Pitchess a reputation as being among the most violent facilities in the county system. In 1995, 14 inmates escaped from the jail by removing pieces of the ceiling. Two were never caught.