Arnold Schwarzenegger is planning to sell San Quentin prison and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in an attempt to raise money to ease California's huge budget crisis.

The 157-year-old prison, which houses more than 5,000 inmates - including more than 600 on death row - sits on prime real estate overlooking San Francisco Bay and is surrounded by some of the most expensive properties in the state. The Coliseum is the only stadium in the world to host the Olympic Games twice, in 1932 and 1984, and has been declared a historic national landmark.

The proposal to sell state assets is part of the California Governor's revised budget plan. The state faces a projected deficit of $15.4 billion (£10.2 billion) - or more if voters reject a series of cuts in a ballot next week. If, as polls indicate is likely, they do, California will face a deficit of $21.3 billion up to mid-2010, according to Mr Schwarzenegger.

The state, home to 37 million people, has seen income plunge, thanks largely to a calamitous decline in tax revenues caused by the housing crisis and recession. California had a budget of $131 billion in 2008.

The Governor has been struggling with state legislators for months to agree on measures to deal with the budget deficit. Californians will vote on a package of measures that would create a state spending cap, extend income, increase sales and vehicle tax, authorise borrowing from future lottery proceeds and transfer money from children's and mental health programmes to the state's general fund.

“There are thousands of buildings and land parcels throughout California that represent billions of dollars of equity,” the plan says. “California's current fiscal crisis has prompted new ways of thinking about how the state can unlock some of this value.”

Other items on the list for potential disposal include Cal Expo, site of the state fair in Sacramento; the Del Mar fairgrounds and racetrack in San Diego County; the Cow Palace, a 70-year-old exhibition hall in Daly City, bordering San Francisco, and the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The sale of those properties could generate more than $1 billion for the state, according to Mr Schwarzenegger's proposal - but the proceeds would not be available for two to five years.

State legislators have been considering selling San Quentin for years, with some proposals suggesting that it could fetch more than $1 billion.

The cost of building a new prison and the problems of finding somewhere else to house some of the most infamous murderers in America have scotched such plans.

San Quentin's death row for male inmates is the largest in the United States. It has a gas chamber, but since 1996 executions have been carried out by lethal injection. Recent legal challenges about how the injections are carried out have stopped executions there pending a review. Inmates have long complained about conditions at the jail.

The Coliseum, which was opened in 1923, is the home of the University of Southern California Trojans American football team which can draw capacity crowds of more than 90,000. But it has not hosted a professional football tenant since 1995, when the LA Raiders went to Oakland. The stadium is regularly used for international football matches and music concerts. Any changes would have to take into consideration its protected status as a historic monument.

Zev Yaroslavsky, the Los Angeles County Supervisor and president of the LA Memorial Coliseum Commission, told the Los Angeles Times that the idea of selling the property was an attempt to divert attention from the state's problems.

“The idea is absurd,” he said. “The Coliseum is a national historic monument. You cannot sell it any more than you can sell the Statue of Liberty or the Washington Monument.”

Hard cell

• Secure 19th-century site set in 432 acres oozing history and character

• Excellent views of San Rafael Bay (limited in some rooms)

• Marvellous access via the Richmond San Rafael Bridge

• Exclusive gated community, with unrivalled facilities for disposing of unwanted guests

• All rooms have toilet facilities; additional spacious shower area and large kitchen are also included

• The building has extensive recreational facilities and can be adapted as a concert venue (previous performers include Jonny Cash, BB King and Metallica)

• Sleeps 3,317 comfortably (but room can be found for extra guests at a pinch)

• Viewing strictly by court appointment only

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