Historic La Loma prison demolished (15 photos)
NUEVO LAREDO – Since time immemorial, U. S. travelers to Mexico have been cautioned not to drink the water.On the U.S. side of this Mexican border city, however, visitors are also warned to stay out of trouble or, at best, don’t end up at La Loma (The Hill).
La Loma, Nuevo Laredo’s municipal jail, became known to the general public as some kind of landmark for no good reason. La Loma, nevertheless, is no more.
The four-story jail compound, glorified in verse, song and film through time, was demolished Friday, crumbling to the ground in the middle of a residential area from the blasts of 75 kilos of well-placed dynamite.
After a series of siren warnings, Nuevo Laredo Mayor Daniel Peña Treviño pressed the detonator to set off a series of explosions, covering an entire city block with broken concrete and dust. La Loma had occupied a site enclosed by Monterrey, Colima, Arteaga and Gutierrez streets.
The demolition was handled by a Mexican firm named Opexa (Operadora de Explosivos).
“It finally happened,” said Manuel Arevalo, who lived on Monterrey Street about 50 meters from the penal facility that was opened in 1927. It underwent additions in 1954 and 1956. “Before we knew it, La Loma was sitting in the middle of the Colonia Hidalgo neighborhood. They built it right across from an elementary school (primaria).”
Arevalo said residents lived under constant fear because of constant violence in the place as well as jailbreaks. On the other hand, he said, “the neighbors got used to it.”
“Some people around here are going to miss it,” he said.
The man pointed out that some residents fronting the jail, in time, used all or part of the property to operate small stores. In addition, vendors would locate food and drink businesses on the sides of the streets. He said some operated concessions in the building.
He said there were times when wives, sweethearts and other family members would stage protests in front of the place when it became known that the authorities planned to relocate prisoners to other towns to ease the crowded conditions.
“People wanted these inmates kept here so they could visit them or at least bring them food and things,” the man said.
Arevalo said the neighbors have no idea what the local authorities propose to do with the property, adding that La Loma population had been relocated to a larger facility (CERESO No. 2, Centro de Readaptacion Social).
A homemaker told Laredo Morning Times that her daughter went to the school across the street from La Loma and she sent the child to another school “because I was in constant fear that something would happen to her.”
La Loma had a capacity of 250 inmates, but the jail population stood at more than 1,000 for decades. A La Loma official at the scene said the facility held 2006 prisoners in 2006.
“You didn’t want to end up there,” he said. “If some youngster was sent there, you generally had the parents or some friend doing everything possible to get the kid out the place. Some notorious criminals were locked in there. The place was the scene of countless breaks, riots, killings and all kinds of abuse.”
A Nuevo Laredo police commandant, who asked not to be identified, said hundreds of U.S. citizens did time in La Loma through the years. He said a well-known U.S. merchandise smuggler killed an inmate with a knife and got sent to solitary confinement.
“After a series of beatings, the man bribed his way out and went to a downtown restaurant, where he was picked up by a friend from Laredo,” the officer said. “Inmates that could afford it, would pay up front for an individual room. Some paid as much as $5,000 or more for a furnished area with telephone, television, toilet and shower. They would send runners for food from restaurants. If they wanted company, that could be arranged, too.”
A Nuevo Laredo historian, Raymundo Rios Mayo, said La Loma inspired the lyrics for several ballads as well as a motion picture, where actor Rodolfo de Anda played the leading character.
A benefit bullfight, staged in a recreational area in 1979, earned a mention in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. The matadors were Raul Salinas Capetillo and Lorenzo Serratos. Capetillo took on the bulls in Mexico under the professional name of El Capete. Serrato performed under the name of El Canario (The Canary). As a result of this event, the two subsequently appeared at a bullring located off Colossio Boulevard immediately east of Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge. Captello and Serratos shared a ‘suite’ at La Loma where they had their bullfighting gear and suits of bright lights (trajes de luz).
Rios Mayo said the schoolhouse (Escuela Cosme Perez) was built in 1944. He said the second jail addition occurred in 1956, adding three stories to accommodate 60 cells designed for three prisoners. He said the improvements were federally funded through La Junta Federal de Mejoras Materiales (Federal Public Works).
Gilberto Brizuela, the last director of La Loma (CERESO I), was the only invited guest at the demolition.
They say they don't know what the land is to be used for?
A new Wal Mart Supercenter is the word on the street.
There's got to be a joke in there somewhere… replacing a prison with a WalMart?
Actually, there is not.
There have been plans to build a Wal Mart here for several years. Rumor had it that after the lady died that owned the majority of the property in Boystown, the zona would be razed for the project.
Didn't happen. This prison was on the same street as the zona de tolerancia (Boys Town) so the word is, this is where it will be built. The dimensions of the property are about what a Wal Mart would require
I was one of the U.S. citizen youngsters who made bad choices and ended up here. It was the most frightening time of my life for sure, and it has changed mine and my families lives forever. I think of this place eveyday, multiple times per day. I really had hoped to go back and see it one day- The things that happened behind those walls were amazing. Definately stuff the average person doesn't experience or see in ten lifetimes. Good and bad, I wouldnt change it for a second for who it has helped me become. My memories of La Loma are as strong now as they were the day I walked out. Does anyone know where I can get more pictures of La Loma, inside and out? Please help.
Please help with pictures of La Loma Nicksfence@msn.com THanks, Nick
Nick, Thanks for the comment. As for pictures, I have a few that can't be posted here if I can even find them on the HD.
Myself and I am sure others would be interested in hearing of your experiences in this place if you would care to share them with us. I've heard many things about the place, some probably true, others no more than urban legends
Ironically, the day they brought La Loma down, there was a prison break at CERESA II, the replacement prison.
its been nearly seventeen years since i got out of la loma and i still find myself searching the internet for someone who can get me some photos of the place. i know they exist……i saw people taking pictures in there every sunday as the crowds of families danced to the live music and enjoyed the weekend visits. seventeen years and my life is still impacted by this nightmare to a point that notna day goes by, still…..that i dont think of it.
My daddy died in Sept. 5 1970. Which was 3 months and a few days before i was been. My dad was a black man from tennessee , his name is James Parrish he had no middle name and i was wondering if any files on who was there could be looked at. My daddy was very sick when he came home and I have sickness alot and i need to know more about my father and if he was their. He was very handsome man he would have been between 83-86 now. He was at the West Nashville Prison first for Stealing a pack of Bologna and Crackers because he was hungry. But he asked for it first he mother was going to get the money to pay for it and they was so mean to blacks back then so they put him in the Prison. Then he was 15 years old. Then they since him to the Ohio State Pen. When his sister would write they would send it back to her saying that it was a lot of James Parrish's back then. Did all have no middle names or what but they couldn't find my dad or where he was. Then one day after some years he went to his sisters house and he met my mother and Blessed my mother with me. Now I need answers. Can you help. He was from College Grove in Tennessee.
Lezza, thanks for your touching comment, but I don't see how we can help you.
Mexico Trucker is a site concerned with issues involving things to do with Mexico.
I wish you all the luck in the world. Google is a good tool to help you in your search