Downtown Prison Site Selected

After years of controversy and political struggles over where in Los Angeles County to locate a new medium-security prison, the state Department of Corrections has zeroed in on a site near downtown Los Angeles.

The state is near agreement on purchase of an 8.2-acre site in a heavily industrial area a few miles southeast of the Civic Center, said Robert Gore, a spokesman for the department. Mike Allderdice, vice president and general counsel of Crown Coach International, the firm that owns the property, said company officials expect “to make a deal with the state at any time.”

Capacity of 1,750

Plans call for a 1,750-inmate facility several stories high near 12th Street and Santa Fe Avenue. It would include a 1,000-bed reception center for newly sentenced prisoners and a 750-bed prison for longer-term inmates.

The state has begun contacting some surrounding property owners and plans to assemble a total of about 30 acres around the facility, Gore said.

The announcement drew immediate criticism from state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), who represents the area. Torres said he learned of the tentative site selection Wednesday afternoon when a representative of the department came to his office. He said he was “shocked and appalled” that he had not been advised of the plan earlier.

“It’s a few blocks from where people are living in Boyle Heights,” he said. “I grew up a few blocks from there. I don’t think it’s an appropriate site at this point.”

Torres said he might seek to cut off state funds for purchase of the property.

State officials had hoped that the proposal would avoid the political problems that have bogged down selection of other sites. Gore said residential areas are separated from the Crown Coach site by freeways, the Los Angeles River or manufacturing plants. He said that a public hearing was held in the area last year and that no objections were voiced to selection of the site.

But Torres fumed: “Where did they put the notices? On telephone poles? They probably didn’t hear any opposition because the notice wasn’t sufficient.”

Placement of a new medium-security prison in Los Angeles County was ordered in 1982 by the Legislature and Gov. George Deukmejian. The county contributes 34% of the prison system’s inmates but has no prison, a fact that has been criticized by lawmakers.

Sensitive Issue

Finding a location for the $100-million-plus facility has been a highly sensitive political issue, with residents and elected officials fighting to keep it out of their backyards. The search for a site was made more difficult by publicity surrounding a mass murder in Chino Hills in June, 1983. Kevin Cooper, a prison escapee, was convicted of the slayings last month.

After several false starts and the dropping of several potential sites in the face of protests, the state issued a list of five possible prison sites last year, including industrial sites in Vernon and South Gate and property in Agua Dolce, northeast of Newhall.

“Until we are done with this evaluation, we won’t take any other action on any other sites,” Gore said.

Deukmejian wants the prison to be in the urban area, Gore said, adding that the proposed location would reduce costs for the county, which now takes people sentenced to state prison to Chino.

Councilmen Gilbert Lindsay, whose district includes the prison site, and Arthur Snyder, who represents residential areas east of the site, said Wednesday that they were not fully briefed on the proposal and would reserve comment. “I’ll wait and see,” Snyder said.

‘Get Tough’

County Supervisor Ed Edelman, whose district includes the site, was out of town. His press spokesman, John Stoddard, said Edelman had not taken a position on the Crown Coach site. Edelman has not opposed a prison in his district if it is properly located. “His position has been if you’re going to get tough on criminals you’ve got to have space to put criminals away,” Stoddard said.

Spokesmen at several businesses near the Crown Coach site said they were unaware of the prison plan. Rachel Levy, a manager at a generator company near the site, said, “I think the business owners will be concerned.”

The state has the power to build the prison without local government approval, but Gore said officials hope to work cooperatively with local agencies.