Broken Blind - Los Angeles Hall of Justice, California
by Darin Volpe
Title
Broken Blind - Los Angeles Hall of Justice, California
Artist
Darin Volpe
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
A 2006 photo of a window on the L.A. Hall of Justice.
The Los Angeles Hall of Justice has an incredible story of death and renewal to tell. It was the oldest standing government building in the Los Angles Civic Center when the Northridge earthquake struck, causing the 1925 Beaux-Arts building to be closed just before it's 70th birthday in 1994. The building was considered to be damaged beyond repair in the earthquake and remained condemned and vacant for nearly two decades. In 2010 the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors approved funding to restore the historic building and it was re-dedicated in 2014. Many of the original materials were re-used in the restoration, such as original marble, decorative wood, light fixtures, and even the original elevator cars. Ceilings were hand-painted and details cleaned with toothbrushes to keep the building as historical as possible. Some sacrifices had to be made to restore a condemned 1925 building to 2014 standards. The original jail cells that originally occupied the top four floors had to be removed due to their weight and infrastructure such as the heating and cooling system, lighting, and electrical were replaced.
Today the gray granite walls are white once again, and the building is once again the center for law and order in the city of Los Angeles.
Uploaded
September 14th, 2013
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