LJTurning Alcatraz Back Into a Prison Would Be a Costly Crime
Whoa.
Raise your hand if you’ve been to Alcatraz. You’re not the only one! According to Tripadvisor, the former federal prison—now run by the National Park Service—is the #1 attraction in San Francisco and #6 in the United States. Perched on a tiny island about 1.25 miles offshore from the Embarcadero waterfront, the dilapidated facility has been closed since 1963, other than for tourists.
Trump’s idea to turn the historic site into a functioning prison raises serious questions about a process that would cost hundreds of millions while triggering extensive regulatory reviews, suggests Bloomberg CityLab.
As The Washington Post reports, “But Alcatraz cost a fortune to operate. Harsh conditions — wind, surf and salt — shortened the lifespans of buildings and equipment. As the Depression ended and the Bay Area boomed, labor costs for guards and other staffers rose steeply. Virtually everything the prisoners and their keepers needed had to be ferried to the island on boats and barges — including nearly a million gallons of water per week, tons of food and fuel for the generators.
A scant 25 years after Alcatraz opened, the feds began hatching plans to close it. Prisoners were just as secure at a federal prison in Atlanta for one-third of the cost, a study concluded. The Bureau of Prisons broke ground on a new maximum-security facility in rural Illinois, and when it was completed in 1963, Alcatraz was relegated to its legend, which is absorbed daily by tourists and on TV by impressionable old men.”