US EditionWill This California Prison Return to Its Glory Days as a Luxurious Hotel?
Closing the prison in 2026 could save California $150 million as local leaders plan to restore the historic site to a luxury resort, despite renovation challenges.
- The California Correctional Facility in Norco, originally a luxury hotel opened on February 2, 1929, is scheduled to close in fall 2026 due to falling prison populations.
- The closure follows more than a decade of Norco City Council calls for shutdown amid concerns about layoffs, facility upkeep, and asbestos remediation.
- Built by Rex Clark after discovering therapeutic hot water sulfur springs, the Norconian opened as a resort with extensive amenities, became a Naval hospital in 1941, and later a prison in the 1980s.
- The institution currently employs about 1,191 staff and houses roughly 2,766 inmates, while parts of the facility have deteriorated with water damage and require historic preservation efforts.
- Local leaders and community members strongly desire to restore the site as a resort or hotel but remain wary of a worst-case scenario if the state abandons preservation after closure.
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Will the Norco prison return to its glory days as a luxurious hotel?
When it closes next year, Norco city leaders hope to restore the correctional facility to an upscale resort again.
·Sacramento, United States
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Total News Sources11
Leaning Left4Leaning Right0Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution80% Left
Bias Distribution
- 80% of the sources lean Left
80% Left
L 80%
C 20%
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