Los Angeles County is making progress on bringing dozens of new mental health beds and supportive housing units to the expansive Metropolitan State Hospital campus in Norwalk.
Run by the state, the psychiatric hospital opened in 1916 and at its peak housed thousands of patients. These days there are only about 800 patients there. With its 162 acres, tree-lined pathways, and boarded up buildings, the place looks like an abandoned city.
At a meeting last month, county supervisors voted to sign off on a lease with the state for a portion of the campus. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill last year that cleared the way for the lease.
Now the county plans to begin renovating two of the decaying buildings to make way for 32 treatment beds, thanks to $65 million in Proposition 1 funding from the state…