 Lincoln Heights Jail, Los Angeles, 2009 | |
 | |
| Location | 421 North Avenue 19 Los Angeles,California, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°04′39″N118°13′30″W / 34.077472°N 118.224875°W /34.077472; -118.224875 |
| Opened | 1931 |
| Closed | 1965 |
Lincoln Heights Jail is a formerjail building complex in theLincoln Heights neighborhood ofLos Angeles,California, located adjacent to theLos Angeles River and situated about 0.7 miles (1.1 km) southwest of theLincoln/Cypress station.[1] The original building built in the late 1920s is noted for itsArt Deco style.[2] The jail was designated aLos Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument on November 30, 1993.[3]
Lincoln Heights Jail was originally built in 1927 at a cost of $5 million and opened in 1931.[2][4] A police station was built next to the jail.[5] The initial five-story building was constructed to accommodate 625 prisoners.[2] The jail was expanded in the early 1950s to accommodate 2,800 prisoners.[2] Notable detainees includedAl Capone and individuals arrested during theZoot Suit Riots and theWatts riots.[2] In 1951, the unprovoked beating of seven prisoners occurred in the prison on what came to be known as "Bloody Christmas".[6] The jail was decommissioned in 1965,[6] after theLos Angeles City Council and theLos Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed to consolidate inmates in a nearby county jail as a cost-efficiency measure.[2]
From 1979 until 2014, the building was the home of the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts.[7][8]
In 2016, the City of Los Angeles issued a Request for Interest to garner development ideas to revitalize the sprawling 229,000 square feet (21,300 m2) jail complex.[9][10] In 2017, Lincoln Property Company and Fifteen Group were selected to redevelop the Lincoln Heights Jail complex into theLincoln 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.[11] As of March 2020, the project has been delayed due to environmental issues with the site.[12]
The novelL.A. Confidential and subsequent film, part of which was filmed there, was inspired by the Bloody Christmas incident.[6] The 1984 horror movieNightmare on Elm Street filmed the boiler room scenes here and the 1983 exploitationwomen in prison filmChained Heat was also filmed at the prison.[13] Some prison scenes inAmerican History X were shot on the roof.[14] The television seriesCagney & Lacey used it as a filming location. The scene inIron Man 2 where main antagonistIvan Vanko breaks out of prison was also filmed at this location.[15] It is featured in the "Jailbreak" episode of theJack Palance seriesBronk.
The building was used to film parts for the music videos "Feeling This" byBlink-182,[16]"Telephone" byLady Gaga,[17] and"Good Girls" by5 Seconds of Summer.[18]