US President Donald Trump is seeking $152 million from the 2027 budget to rebuild the infamous Alcatraz prison, the BBC reports.
The budget request calls for funding to “rebuild Alcatraz into a modern, maximum-security prison,” covering only the first year of costs. The request must be approved by the US Congress.
Several politicians are skeptical of the plan, questioning the final cost of the project and the difficulty of operating Alcatraz as an operating prison. Critics of the plan point out that the island has no fresh water or sewage system, and all resources would have to be delivered by boat.
According to the US Federal Bureau of Prisons, at the time of its closure, Alcatraz was three times more expensive to maintain than any other federal prison.
Trump announced plans to reopen Alcatraz last year. At the time, he said he wanted to house “the most ruthless and brutal criminals.”
Originally a naval fortress, Alcatraz (or “The Rock,” as it is informally called) was a military prison, then a federal prison in the 1930s after being transferred to the Department of Justice. Among the most famous inmates were gangsters Al Capone, Mickey Cohen, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
Alcatraz was considered “the prison for the worst of the worst.” It housed criminals who could not be handled by other prisons. During its existence, Alcatraz had 14 escape attempts, but most failed. The most famous is the 1962 escape of three prisoners who disappeared without a trace. They were never found, and there is a version that they may have drowned.
This maximum-security institution was closed in 1963. It now operates as a tourist attraction, managed by the US National Park Service. According to the National Park Service, Alcatraz generates about $60 million in tourism revenue.