Lincoln Heights Jail is a former

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

building complex in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, located adjacent to the

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

and situated about southwest of the Lincoln/Cypress station. The original building built in the late 1920s is noted for its

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style. The jail was designated a

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cult ...

on November 30, 1993.

History

Lincoln Heights Jail was originally built in 1927 at a cost of $5 million and opened in 1931. A police station was built next to the jail. The initial five-story building was constructed to accommodate 625 prisoners. The jail was expanded in the early 1950s to accommodate 2,800 prisoners. Notable detainees included

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

and individuals arrested during the

Zoot Suit Riots The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place from June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city resident ...

and the Watts riots. In 1951, the unprovoked beating of seven prisoners occurred in the prison on what came to be known as " Bloody Christmas". The jail was decommissioned in 1965, after the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...

and the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...

agreed to consolidate inmates in a nearby county jail as a cost-efficiency measure. From 1979 until 2014, the building was the home of the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts.

Redevelopment

In 2016, the City of Los Angeles issued a Request for Interest to garner development ideas to revitalize the sprawling jail complex. In 2017, Lincoln Property Company and Fifteen Group were selected to redevelop the Lincoln Heights Jail complex into the Lincoln Heights Makers District, which will feature a commercial and manufacturing spaces, a public market, creative office space, live-work housing, an amphitheater with green space, recreation areas and a communal rooftop deck. As of March 2020, the project has been delayed due to environmental issues with the site.

In popular culture

The novel ''

L.A. Confidential ''L.A. Confidential'' (1990) is a neo-noir novel by James Ellroy and the third of his L.A. Quartet series. It is dedicated to Mary Doherty Ellroy. The epigraph is "A glory that costs everything and means nothing"— Steve Erickson. Plot The s ...

'' and subsequent film, part of which was filmed there, was inspired by the incident. The 1984 horror movie ''

Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp ...

'' filmed the boiler room scenes here and the 1983 grindhouse

women in prison film The women in prison film (or WiP film) is a subgenre of exploitation film that began in the early 20th century and continues to the present day. Their stories feature imprisoned women who are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, typically by ...

Chained Heat ''Chained Heat'' (alternate title: ''Das Frauenlager'' in West Germany) is a 1983 American-German exploitation film in the women-in-prison genre. It was co-written and directed by Paul Nicholas (as Paul Nicolas) for Jensen Farley Pictures.

'' was also filmed at the prison. Some prison scenes in ''

American History X ''American History X'' is a 1998 American crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye and written by David McKenna. The film stars Edward Norton and Edward Furlong as two brothers from Los Angeles who are involved in the white power skinhead and ne ...

'' were shot on the roof. The television series ''

Cagney & Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very dif ...

'' used it as a filming location. The scene in ''

Iron Man 2 ''Iron Man 2'' is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the sequel to ''Iron Man (2008 film), Iron Man'' (2008) and List of Marve ...

'' where main antagonist

Ivan Vanko Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

breaks out of prison was also filmed at this location. It is featured in the "Jailbreak" episode of the

Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...

series '' Bronk''. It was used to film part of the music video "

Feeling This "Feeling This" is a song by American rock band Blink-182 for their eponymously titled fifth studio album (2003). The song is the opening track on the album and was released as its lead single on October 6, 2003, through Geffen Records. It was w ...

" by

Blink-182 Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their ...

. The site was also used for filming sections of

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

's hit single "Telephone" and 5 Seconds of Summer's single "Good Girls".

References

{{Reflist

External links

Bilingual Foundation for the Arts
Buildings and structures in Los Angeles Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Art Deco architecture in California Jails in California 1931 establishments in California