Here’s a novel idea for a huge, old building — the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation may convert the historic Lincoln Heights Jail into a rooftop agricultural garden, reported KCET.
The corporation is looking at a bunch of designs. But this one captured the most attention:
Happily kayaking Angelinos can be seen making their way down the river, which can easily be accessed from the jail site. Overhead, the Metro Gold line passes through, while below Angelinos enjoy a bit of sunshine on a river overlook, a High Line-esque elevated park structure.
By far, the proposal’s most intriguing prospect is the potential for a 24,000 square-foot urban agricultural space right on the rooftop with room for an event space. Samson shares that RRC is already engaging possible urban agricultural operators and are going on farm tours within the coming weeks. A demonstration project could be up and running in 18 months’ time, she estimates.
Rooftop agriculture makes perfect sense, says Christy. Based on the firm’s analysis, the jail site doesn’t have enough exits and stairs to support a full-blown event space, but it would be an ideal set-up for urban agriculture, which has less volume of people moving in and out.
The Lincoln Heights Jail, which sits near the Arroyo Seco Parkway (aka Route 66), has a long and storied history:
In the 1850s, it held an adobe that was home to Los Angeles’ first prisoners. In 1931, an Art Deco-style concrete facility was built to replace an earlier jail constructed a decade earlier. By the early 1950s, it expanded with another Bauhaus addition. At its peak, it crammed about 2,800 inmates at a time. Infamous and notable alike saw the inside of the Gray Bar Motel including the likes of Al Capone (who spent the night after a tax evasion arrest), Zoot Suit rioters, and finally Watts rioters, who clocked in jail time right before Lincoln Heights Jail was decommissioned in 1965. Dark and dingy have been so ingrained in the site that it’s played a lockup even on the big screen for movies such as “Con Air” and “L.A. Confidential.”
More about the jail’s history can be read here. If you want to check it out yourself, here’s a map.
(Hat tip: Scott Piotrowski)