US officials visit Alcatraz amid Trump's plan to reopen island prison
Federal prison officials visited Alcatraz last week after Donald Trump's announcement earlier this month of plans to rebuild and reopen the infamous island prison, which has been closed for over 60 years.
David Smith, the superintendent of the Golden Gate national recreation area (GGNRA), told the San Francisco Chronicle that officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons are planning to return for further structural assessments.
'They have been out here. They'll be coming out again to do assessments of the structure,' Smith told the news outlet.
The island facility has been closed since 1963, when then attorney general Robert F Kennedy ordered its shutdown amid high operating costs, limited space and multiple escape attempts.
BOP director William Marshall told Fox News that engineering teams are already surveying the site. 'We've got engineering teams out there now that are doing some assessments, and so I'm just really excited about the opportunity and possibilities,' he said.
In recent months, the US government has moved to reopen at least five previously closed detention centers and prisons.
Although California lawmakers have dismissed the Alcatraz proposal as a 'distraction' and not a serious plan, the Trump administration is actively working – with the help of private prison companies – to reopen other facilities, some of which are already back in operation.
Related: A hard cell? Alcatraz tourists dismiss Trump's 'insane' plan to revive it as a prison
Smith said he was skeptical about reopening Alcatraz, pointing to the large financial investment and legal challenges it would require.
He said it's 'just not well-situated' for the Bureau of Prisons.
But Marshall called the proposal 'exciting' and feasible. He suggested that modern, lightweight materials could solve some of the island's logistical challenges.
'When you think of Alcatraz, you think of Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Lambeau Field, those types of facilities … you just get that kind of feeling about Alcatraz when you think of those historical venues,' Marshall told Fox News's My View with Lara Trump, Trump's daughter-in-law.
'And so, yeah, we absolutely think we can get it done.'
Meanwhile, the GGNRA is undertaking seismic retrofitting projects on the island, including reinforcing the pier and stabilizing the aging cellhouse to prevent further deterioration.
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