President Donald Trump has said that he intends to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz.
The famous prison, now defunct, is situated on a small island of the same name off the coast of San Francisco.
Before it closed 60 years ago, the maximum-security fortress on the edge of the San Francisco Bay held notorious criminals like Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and James “Whitey” Bulger from 1934 on.
Why would a prison close, one might ask?
Not only did its infrastructure crumble, but maintenance costs were exorbitant.
Director of the US Bureau of Prisons William K. Marshall III said his agency will “pursue all avenues” to make Trump’s dream come true.
But both the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service have “nothing to add at this time.”
Alcatraz is currently a major tourist attraction. The building has been corroded by the surrounding environment’s salt – and its mere restoration could cost up to $5 million.
Its location made it a last resort for hopelessly unruly criminals (the real baddies), who couldn’t escape in the manner of the Count of Monte Cristo, surrounded as they were by the Pacific Ocean’s ruthless cold currents.
Psychological conditions were harsh: anything beyond food, clothing, shelter and medical care had to be earned.
Originally, it was a fortress – including for the civil war, and thus evolved into a military privilege.
But Trump’s wish seems to be purely symbolic, given that this prison only ever housed less than 1% of the USA’s total federal jail population – famous or infamous as it might have been. And rightfully so: it was three times more expensive to operate than any other federal prison.
