'OLD MAX' MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY PITCHESS FACILITY GETS NEW SIGN, HAS OPEN HOUSE.

CASTAIC - Fifty years of history were remembered at the East facility of Pitchess Detention Center on Tuesday as part of an anniversary celebration and open house.

Current and former jail workers joined Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca at the ``Old Max'' facility for a tour and unveiling of a new sign created by deputies and inmates.

``This is like deja vu - like coming back,'' said Baca, who once worked at the facility. ``I have great memories here.''

The East facility opened in 1951 as a maximum security building to house 100 disciplinary inmates. But as the inmate population increased, the facility expanded, and currently houses 1,974 maximum security inmates.

``The whole dynamics has changed,'' Baca said. ``Some for the better, but it's never good when you have so many people incarcerated.''

It also houses an administrative area, an inmate processing center, clinic, kitchen, dining room, and special dormitory areas to support educational and rehabilitation programs.

Baca also unveiled a diamond-shape granite sign surrounded by bricks and a flower garden. The sign reads PDC East Facility with the Sheriff's Department slogan, ``A tradition of service'' and features a golden key with the words MAX on top of it.

Sheriff's officials said while they have no more room to expand the East facility, inmates are working to maintain and improve the building. Prison officials plan to construct a new bus port and inmate processing center that can handle up to 56 inmates at one time, which would accommodate the buses currently operated by the department.

Officials also hope to bring in new educational programs at the facility.

``This was a nice opportunity for employees and their families to celebrate the facility,'' said Lt. Richard Moak, acting commander of East facility. ``This is a nice entertaining day.''

The East facility is one of four facilities at Pitchess Detention Center, which opened 20 years after the Sheriff's Department purchased the property alongside the Golden State Freeway in 1931.

``It has quite a history,'' said Commander John Scott, who is in charge of all four facilities. ``It spans 70 years and the property and its uses have changed over the years.''

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Sheriff's officers are seen at the East facility of Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, then called Wayside Honor Rancho, in this 1951 photo.

(2 -- color) Sheriff Lee Baca, right, looks over photographs of the East facility during 50th anniversary events Tuesday.

(3 -- 4 -- color) Visitors, left, line up for a tour during an open house at the East facility of Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic on Tuesday. Above, a visitor peers through a window at the facility's kitchen.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer