FIGHT ON FOR REPAIR MONEY COUNTY WANTS TO FIX EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Nearly 11 years after the Northridge Earthquake devastated buildings across the Los Angeles basin, county government and the courts still are fighting for funds to repair the damage.

Los Angeles County officials are in a trial in Orange County seeking up to $125 million from insurance companies to fix or replace the badly damaged Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration building downtown. Some of the money would also be used for the Pasadena, Beverly Hills and downtown civil courthouses.

As the trial winds down and a $1.2 billion project to transform Grand Avenue moves forward, officials are talking about relocating the County Hall to Chinatown or another downtown site to make way for a large civic park between City Hall and the Department of Water and Power building.

Meanwhile, officials have been studying how much it would cost to repair or replace the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, adjacent to the proposed civic park, and other courts throughout the county.

``I think, by and large, taxpayers don't care as long as the costs are kept down,'' said Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. ``They would prefer that these things are done as inexpensively as possible.''

County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen said officials will wait until the trial ends before deciding to repair or replace the County Hall. A small amount of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds are also available for the project.

``We could build a much more efficient building,'' Janssen said.

Janssen estimated the cost of replacing the seat of county government at about $200 million. Repairing the existing building on Temple Street is expected to cost less.

The county is also cleaning out debris in anticipation of a $100 million retrofit of the historic Hall of Justice building downtown, where Marilyn Monroe's body was taken for autopsy and where Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan were tried.

``They have to catalog all the historic features in the building, such as the elevator cabs and many other pieces,'' said Carol Kindler, assistant division chief for county Disaster Management Services.

Meanwhile, as a result of a state act in 2002 to unify the courts, officials are in the process of transferring ownership of courthouses from the counties to the state by 2007. The county is in negotiations with the state to transfer ownership of the courts, including the downtown civil courthouse.

To pay the costs, officials are considering putting a bond measure before voters in the near future.

Officials estimate it would cost up to $6.2 billion to fix or replace many of the 451 courthouses statewide in need of repair or upgrades.

Seismic-retrofitting of the Van Nuys East Courthouse was recently completed and work is now beginning on the nearby Van Nuys Municipal Courthouse.

``As to whether we'd like to relocate the (Stanley Mosk Courthouse), we certainly need some updated facilities throughout the county,'' Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said. ``But we live in an era of budgetary restraint, and I think it's unlikely we'll see a new courthouse in the very near future.''

The discussion about possibly relocating the County Hall and courthouse buildings comes as the Grand Avenue Authority has hired The Related Companies of California to transform the Grand Avenue area near the Walt Disney Concert Hall into a ``real urban district.''

At a series of recent community meetings, members of the public suggested the developers enlarge the proposed civic park by relocating the County Hall and courthouse and include an icon like the Eiffel Tower or the Barcelona Fish to attract visitors.

``There is seemingly wide interest in those two buildings being relocated,'' said Bill Witte, president of the development firm. ``We have been asked by the county to see if that might work.''

Vosburgh said any public money spent on a large icon would be ``deeply resented'' by the majority of county taxpayers.

``If they insist on a huge icon, how about an outstretched hand reaching for a special-interest check,'' Vosburgh said.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com