While US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his proposal to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the once-notorious prison island in the icy waters of San Francisco Bay, experts say his idea is “not realistic at all”.
The BBC reports that in a message on his Truth Social site on Sunday, President Trump said that “for too long America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat criminal offenders”.
The reopening of Alcatraz – once notorious as one of the US’s toughest prisons – would serve as a “symbol of law, order, and justice,” he said.
But experts say that refurbishing the dilapidated remains of the once-formidable prison is “not realistic at all”.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), it was nearly three times more costly to operate than other federal institutions, and was ultimately closed by Attorney General Robert Kennedy in 1963.
Soon after Trump’s comments, justice department spokesman Chad Gilmartin said in a statement that the BOP “is working towards rebuilding and opening Alcatraz to serve as a symbol of law and order”.
But, according to the BBC, prison experts and historians have expressed serious doubts whether the plan is feasible.
Hugh Hurwitz, who served as acting director of the BOP between May 2018 and August 2019, is quoted as saying: “To be frank, at first I thought it was a joke. It’s not realistic to think you can repair it. You’d have to tear it up and start over.”
Hurwitz pointed to a number of issues with the facility, including buildings that are “literally falling apart”, and cells in which “a six-foot person can’t stand up”.
“There’s no security upgrades. No cameras. No fencing,” he added. “You can’t run a prison.”
Jolene Babyak, an author and Alcatraz historian who lived there as a child during her father’s two stints as prison administrator, said: “I have two words: water and sewage.
“In its heyday, all the sewage for 500 or more people was just dumped in the bay,” she said. “Nowadays it has to be boated off. It’s just not realistic at all. But it captures everyone’s imagination.”
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