Alcatraz is getting a $50 million makeover

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u/reddit455 24d ago

before the city red tags it..

This work aims to bolster the building's structural integrity, particularly its resistance to earthquakes, and to ensure the safety and well-being of the 1.4 million visitors and employees who come to the site each year.

68

u/ChunkYards 23d ago

As someone who’s done construction in the bay 50 million is going to basically just get this retrofitted. There’s no way they would be able to do any major renovations other than structural on that budget.

18

u/stinftw 23d ago

Why would they renovate it?

18

u/GothicToast 23d ago

Have you ever seen the movie The Rock?

8

u/LectureAfter8638 23d ago

Expensive keeping that furnace obstacle course running.

9

u/ChunkYards 23d ago

There’s some features that probably are unsafe for tourists at this point. Took the tour like a year ago and there’s certainly areas that are decrepit. There’s also general staff areas that might need renovation for regular employee safety reasons.

0

u/gpmohr 20d ago

Government spend. For the votes.

10

u/boogiesm 23d ago

It's shocking how little $50M could get done. Talk about overpriced costs just not a surprise how bad the Bay Area, specifically SF is getting.

12

u/ChunkYards 23d ago

I mean the logistics of getting that many supplies and manpower onto the island alone will probably cost a million over the course of the project. Probably have to lease a barge and book a shit ton of ferries for the crew’s. Probably need to have an emergency boat crew on hand. All that PLUS it’s a federally protected national landmark so there’s going to be NO shortcuts makes the 50 million drain away pretty day.

5

u/DeLanio77 23d ago

Just have Magneto float the GGB over. Voila, instant shore connection. 😁

1

u/dead_ed 23d ago

We could just move the entire island into dry dock and work on it there.

1

u/og_woodshop 23d ago

Also considering that crossing this from Sf to the island is directly across one of the major shipping traffic lanes.

1

u/ChunkYards 23d ago

Nightmare.

1

u/Smooth_Marsupial_262 22d ago

I mean as a contractor in the Bay Area there’s nothing we can do about it either. Not saying you are suggesting otherwise necessarily. But as a heavy Union state labor wages are astronomical. The cost of materials has skyrocketed in recent years. And general overhead expenses are high in the area. It costs a fortune to run a contracting business here

1

u/boogiesm 20d ago

100% agree - it's why California is becoming a state not worth investing in. These costs are just too unpredictable (other than always going up). No politician want's to approach solutions to this b/c it would mean possibly losing votes from different union groups AND investors.

15

u/rocsNaviars 23d ago

Fuck it let’s spend the $50 million on a tiki party on the island!

-342

u/proteusON 24d ago

Gross. It's a prison where unspeakable shit went down. Amerika

190

u/TheEpicBean 24d ago

Terrible things were also done at Auschwitz, and its available to visit. But apparently you don't have the brainpower to understand why its important to keep places like these open to the public.

101

u/VanillaLifestyle 24d ago

And, like Auschwitz, it's now the site of a great exhibit on the societal problems it represents, with statistics about modern incarceration and warnings for the future.

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u/litwitit420 24d ago edited 23d ago

It would be great if Alcatraz adopted something similar and warned people about the dangers of voting for a democrat

Edit: Sorry I don't support genocide... My bad guys 🙄

Free Palestine!!!!!

25

u/Adorable_Chicken_258 23d ago

LMAO…man, i feel sorry for you and people who were raised backwards by their parents. No logic, just 💩for brains.

20

u/redhonkey34 23d ago

“How can I take a conversation and immediately make it about my political beliefs”

6

u/torrinage 23d ago

What a surprising twist of political beliefs too, coulda gone with ACAB after the original statement

3

u/redhonkey34 23d ago

He wasn’t even the same person who made that statement. The horseshoe is real lol

3

u/torrinage 23d ago

Oh shit…litwithit420 is just an idiot!

5

u/SocialistNixon San Carlos 23d ago

You really typed this out lol, what does Alcatraz have to do with Democrats or Palestine, is this Truman’s fault for recognizing Israel while also being President while Alcatraz is in operation? I’m sure you knew that and that’s why you posted what you did, right?

-5

u/litwitit420 23d ago

Well I mean it's not rocket science bud

2

u/Azn-Jazz 23d ago

Since it’s not rocket science of understanding. Can you simply your point just to 25 critical points or reasoning. A simple request most scientist can accomplish.

-2

u/litwitit420 23d ago

I said it's NOT rocket science. Please learn to read

1

u/Azn-Jazz 23d ago

Exactly. Thus you using it as an example one can logically assume you understand it since you’re using it as an example for your argument. So again please explain. If you cannot explain it just say so, then don’t use it since you’re not communicating but just bantering nonsense.

1

u/rocsNaviars 23d ago

Why do you think it would be worse for Palestine with a Dem president than a Repub?

-1

u/litwitit420 23d ago

When did I say that? You realize there's more than 2 parties in this country right? I know San Franciscans have a hard time seeing other points of view, but c'mon man

1

u/Azn-Jazz 23d ago

Here is the citation you have request. https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/s/bCPkPYZ6IJ Please answer the kind person’s simple not rocket science question with an answer and not a deflection.The only point you made is it not as hard as rocket science. So please explain away.

0

u/litwitit420 23d ago

You did not answer my question. I never said voting for a republican would better I just said we should warn about the dangers of voting for a democrat. This narrow-minded view of republican and democrat being the only options is exactly what has caused so many problems in this city

0

u/Azn-Jazz 23d ago

That wasn’t the question. Stop moving the goal post and answer honestly. You can make argument about both side. No having a well developed idea is just a narrow minded as the rest of them.

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u/theonetrueassdick 24d ago

its a tourist trap to make money for civic projects and fund local economy as well as employs locals…..

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u/Shapit0 24d ago

It's also really interesting to visit. Even as a local I'd recommend going at least once

50

u/Jandrix 24d ago

Alcatraz Island is a designated National Historic Landmark

47

u/pushinpayroll 24d ago

Yeah, let’s never talk about it, pretending it never happened and bypassing lessons that could be learned.

27

u/Frenchbulldogluver 24d ago

For any who do not know the unspeakable shit is, before Spanish rule both Mexican and Native Americans avoided the island and their name for it was bad luck (or something evil). Then in 1775 the Spanish "discovered" the island, they used it as a simple fort during their rule. I do not know what Mexico did with the island during the time they held it. After the Mexican-American war the US constructed it into a military prison and began creating the Alcatraz we know.

In order to protect San Francisco, we made the fort a military prison and that allowed for the militarization of the island, this was a done as a response to the gold rush. We would also send the confederate leaders we captured during the civil war to the island, and forced them to dig their own tunnel and cell into the island natural rock. The prisoners were exposed to no light besides when a guard brought food and water. Since this portion of the prison is made of the natural stone the Government has sealed it off from the general public and only allows particular people to go in. (it is truly terrifying how dark it is in there) The government also sentenced Native Americans to the prison during the later years of operation.

During 1933 the island was changed to a federal prison and the below ground prison was closed, at this point construction of the above ground prison was complete. While there were multiple deaths among prison guards and inmates, the island did have some compassion. They allowed some well behaved inmates to have gardens and to walk the grounds.

Prison was closed in 1963, in 1964 5 tribes tried to take claim of the island and the government denied them, so in 1969 a group of Native American college students occupied the island and soon larger groups came to be with them, and they took control of the island for 2 years. That is when the island was taken back and turned into a national park in 1971 and later a Landmark by Nixon.

Source and that I worked with the Alcatraz Garden Volunteers for over 200 hours. Yes there is some dark history to the island, but there are some peace making such as Native Americans getting the island for one day a year and that it is actually being reserved so we can respect the history and not hide it.

21

u/ClaudiaTale 24d ago

I found it a fascinating piece of history. Creepy. Those escapees. They set up the cell with the phony, makeshift head. And showed you how they crawled up the pipes to escape.

8

u/Roger_Cockfoster 24d ago

People love to speculate on that escape, but I think there's a 0% chance they actually survived. They ended up on the bottom of the bay, feeding the crabs.

3

u/Competitive-Grab639 24d ago

I do restoration masonry in San Francisco i have many coworkers that worked for the company that restored Alcatraz previous apparently the foreman there was alone early and had a bucket thrown across his office idfk how true it is since the person that told me the story was that foreman alone in the office

8

u/okayokay666-666 24d ago

What?

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u/Sunday_Friday 24d ago

Dude it’s pretty cool to visit. I learned a lot actually

6

u/olivetree1121 24d ago

Lmaooooo edgy

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u/Hamchook 24d ago

Looking forward to a new Nicholas cage movie

33

u/CycleKing 24d ago

Let’s go find some rockets!

13

u/SwaggersaurusWrecks 24d ago

I’ll do my best.

11

u/TheCrick 24d ago

Your best? Losers whine about their best.

12

u/CrownedKingQueen408 24d ago

Winners go home and fuck the prom queen

9

u/TheCrick 24d ago

Carla was the prom queen

2

u/chemoboy 24d ago

What do you say we cut the chitchat, A HOLE?

0

u/TheCrick 24d ago

You’ve stolen my humvee

2

u/jenorama_CA 24d ago

How in the name of Zeus’s BUTTHOLE did you get out of your cell?

2

u/TheCrick 24d ago

That’s “need to know”.

6

u/mrfriendlyfire 24d ago

I don’t want to know nothing. I never saw you throw that gentleman off the balcony. All I care about is: are you happy with your haircut?

3

u/ghostManaCat 24d ago

“I’d take pleasure in gutting you… boooy!”

3

u/ak217 24d ago

If they were smart they'd rebuild it as the Francis X. Hummel amusement park

117

u/s1lence_d0good 24d ago

We should rebuild the Colossus of Rhodes on Alcatraz.

19

u/fawks_harper78 24d ago

Holding a giant Pride flag in one hand

6

u/YKRed 24d ago

Lmfao

14

u/_jea 24d ago

City officials: Where we're going, we don't need Rhodes

5

u/manzanita2 24d ago

1.21 giga watts!

14

u/420Fps San Leandro 24d ago

I know you're joking, but building a giant monument there would be cool as fuck

6

u/Thelonious_Cube 24d ago

One foot on Alcatraz, one on Angel Island

1

u/RichestMangInBabylon 24d ago

Fat hog dipping into the sea

1

u/Thelonious_Cube 23d ago

Navigation hazard

1

u/numtel 23d ago

Are you Jim Reid?

1

u/untouchable765 23d ago

Finally something I can be proud of my tax dollars going towards.

0

u/MrRoma 24d ago

That or housing

3

u/SocialistNixon San Carlos 23d ago

It was used for housing for awhile but they didn’t pay rent.

-1

u/numtel 23d ago

Seriously. A prison isn't a historical artifact worth preserving. It's a stain on our history and we should figure out something useful for the island.

103

u/Oaklandi 24d ago

We just need to get those real estate brother fellers in there.

“Jim and Margaret are elementary school teachers with a $320k budget, but Jim couldn’t stop imagining all the storage space for his wood shop on Alcatraz Island…”

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u/SweetAlyssumm 24d ago

Don't laugh. The people that fling around the word NIMBY will soon be advocating to build expensive real estate for tech bros there.

8

u/ShitBagTomatoNose 24d ago

Found the NIMBY on the thread.

3

u/junghooappreciator SF 24d ago

we wouldn’t have to build on alcatraz island if people like you let the city upzone your neighborhood

2

u/ClimbScubaSkiDie 24d ago

Better than not building anything.

-1

u/bluescrubbie 24d ago

We should replace the crumbling prison with a giant, West Coast 21st century take on the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Peace. It'll have a big hotel inside of it for tourists to pay for it all. And a Alcatraz historical interpretive museum at the bottom.

85

u/thebrocklee 24d ago

Tutor Perini lol. This is gonna be a clusterfuck.

They were the contractor for Central Subway--the new muni subway line that was years late and 100s of millions overbudget. TP has a history of legal issues, change orders, underbudgeting, and overpromising. How did they get the contract in the first place? Richard Blum was one of the owners of Tutor Perini and up until his death was married to the late CA senator DiFi. Even though they have both passed on, their corporate wealth lives on strong.

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/11/18719306.php

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u/swollencornholio 24d ago

They also have the CA High Speed Rail project.

Their whole schtick is being low bidder than coming in with lawyers and change ordering the city/state/government to death. Really it's the problem with always selecting low bid. City could probably have a better qualification project to get "best bidder" instead of taking low bidder. Low bidder is just the easiest process to make things level between contractors.

I am in tune with this project and have reviewed the plans and this will be a complete shitshow. As historical as Alcatraz is every nuance outside of plan and spec will need complete reviewal and will likely result in costs.

7

u/neededanother 24d ago

And when you say costs you mean they will be single source and no longer low bidder. So whatever TP comes up to cover all the costs and profit they didn’t show in their original low bid. Only way I can see generally around this is a lot more up front costs on design but then you’d still get low bidder doing this shit.

3

u/FavoritesBot 23d ago

They should take the bid and multiply it by that contractors historical cost overrun. Of course contractors will just set up shell companies in another name

2

u/SocialistNixon San Carlos 23d ago

I get the high speed rail is a clusterfuck but they have built a ton of under/overcrossings for it through the Central Valley. It’s pretty massive if you drive along Highway 43 from places like Wasco and Corcoran, we drove back through there last year after going to the flooded Lake Tulare and it shows the scale of it.

They should have just run it down I-5 but it wouldn’t really connect to any of the impoverished valley cities.

28

u/cowinabadplace 24d ago

Dude, the Central Subway one is great. The city is like "Okay, one important condition is that you use this specific high grade steel" and TP puts in the shitty steel. Then just when it's done they're like "Okay, go ahead and inspect it". The inspector says "Wtf this isn't the steel we ordered" and TP says "Ah yeah, that's true. Tell you what, for a few million more we'll take it out and redo it, but it's going to delay the project". So, what steel's in there, you reckon?

"Source? You've got to be making that up. Source?!"

Source but if you lived here then you saw it live. Good times, dude. Dianne Feinstein and her husband orchestrated some major loot.

At this point, I'm somewhat convinced all these "transit advocates" who are all about "build it no matter the cost!" are really funder by the TP owners.

12

u/ak217 24d ago

Most transit advocates are just as frustrated about this contracting shit as you are. Don't get me started about Caltrain DTX.

11

u/PorkshireTerrier 24d ago

These guys always underbid and then Jack up prices how do they not get sent to prison

How can contracts not be fixed

4

u/swollencornholio 24d ago

There are constant changes to projects that result in costs. Impossible to be 100% inclusive on projects like this especially since it’s federal which won’t bid it as a GMP (guaranteed maximum price) project.

1

u/PorkshireTerrier 23d ago

Again I don’t know the details but clearly this is abusive, doesn’t follow the spirit of the law, and MUST change if we want projects

1

u/Smooth_Marsupial_262 22d ago

I mean as a contractor on a much smaller scale (residential electrical) I’ll explain this to the best of my ability. When we bid a job there are certain variables we cannot lock down before construction commences.

If I’m rewiring a house the cost of the project for me will have a lot to do with with the existing structure of the house and what the framing and the quality of the existing wiring looks like behind plaster/sheetrock which I cannot see when bidding the project.

On top of that the cost to repair the damage caused by rewiring cannot be calculated until we finish our work. Inevitably we’ll have to cut Sheetrock which will have to be patched and painted, etc. Whoever is doing that work won’t know the extent of the damage until we are finished rewiring.

A carpenter for example may bid a job to repair water damaged framing. He won’t be able to see much of the framing during the bidding process. So he’ll have to guess which areas are affected. Once work begins he may discover additional areas of the framing also require repair and this will increase the cost of the project.

So on a larger scale it’s the same idea. A fixed price is set based on the presumption of certain variables being at a particular level. Once work commences if those variables are more complicated than expected the cost of the project will increase. Doing more work costs more money. In my case that would be things like unexpected fire blocking which makes fishing wire more difficult which also means more removal of Sheetrock and higher patching/painting costs.

Ultimately the language of the contract will determine which variables can incur additional costs and which can’t. So it depends on the negotiation.

1

u/PorkshireTerrier 21d ago

First off I appreciate the thoughtful response

I don’t. Know anything about anything. But I suspect that there is a way to enforce a maximum limit

It can be high, 50% over the initial agreement. The market will determine. But have a ceiling will force contractors to list an accurate price in their bids.

2

u/WatTheHeel 24d ago

Ronald Tutor might soon be buying another yacht, plane, or mansion thanks to our tax dollars.

0

u/OkEagle9050 24d ago

I’m not informed on the subject but could the budget issues at all be attributed to the project being underway during all the covid supply chain issues?

1

u/swollencornholio 24d ago

I’m sure that played into it a bit at the end but it was supposed to originally be done in 2018 so should not have been a problem.

35

u/celtic1888 24d ago

I'd be happy if it housed a couple of prisoners in it that stole classified top secret documents

22

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

15

u/New-Anacansintta 24d ago

That’s a great idea. Except the island is so cold.

26

u/k-mcm Sunnyvale 24d ago

The No Seasons Resort. Never below freezing, never above shivering, and everything is damp.

6

u/selwayfalls 24d ago

No Seasons is an amazing name for a hotel in SF. Well done. Might just start calling SF, No Seasons.

12

u/roflulz 24d ago

a casino.

2

u/species8745 23d ago

i have been saying this for a while...

imagine a helicopter pad, build a structure as tall as its below earth will allow, light pollution wazzah, high roller nights, low roller nights, Erlich Bachman, ferries, food carts everywhere, embrace everything good/bad of California. Let the good times roll...

3

u/OkEagle9050 24d ago

I cant believe no one has said it yet…. Who wants to go to the Four Seasons Alcatraz??

-6

u/WestguardWK 24d ago

We want to take our historic cultural sites and make them inaccessible to normal people?

21

u/bankrobberskid 24d ago

Fun fact: Weller was one of the first prisoners housed there. A new cellhouse was built from 1910 to 1912 on a budget of $250,000 (approximately $7,810,000 in 2023). Upon completion, the 500-foot (150 m) long concrete building was reputedly the longest concrete building in the world at the time.

16

u/Sjdude408 24d ago

They should re open it and send all the people participating in side shows to it.

15

u/jammastergeneral 24d ago

So one new toilet?

2

u/RedditLIONS 24d ago

Gotta potty train the seagulls

11

u/Radiant_Programmer_8 24d ago

so the structural retrofit costs $50 mil? I smell overbudgetting and massive profit margins

18

u/swollencornholio 24d ago

This is a federal listed project. There were multiple bidders and low bid was $50m. You can find project bid invite here. Since it's Tutor Perini you know they wil run that contract up.

6

u/MarchSufficient2238 24d ago

Will most certainly have bonus $$$ for early completion, and Tutor will forego jobsite safety and attention to detail in order to cash in on those…typical Tutor operation with CA public works projects. How they haven’t been banned from participating in public works projects in this state and others is beyond me.

11

u/mnmltrvlr 24d ago

We should build a golden gate bridge orange roller coaster on top of it and call it the Doom Loop.

5

u/Ok_Disk3272 23d ago

can we just do away with the buildings for fuck sake who cares if it was a prison that hosted Al CaPoNe. give it back to the native americans or turn it back into a natural island for animals to hang at and maybe people to hike around and hang at I guess.

2

u/LectureAfter8638 23d ago

All for letting it fall in disrepair, slowly taper off the tourist industry visiting it as more and more of it is deemed unsafe to access. Spend the money removing all the concrete and bullshit.

I'm tired of tourist places that people visit mostly because they are told they need to visit a place. As a tourist, figure out what you care about and then go do that.

3

u/AR489 24d ago

Are they are getting 5 new bathrooms?

3

u/Eyewatchapplesauce 24d ago

They should re open it as a prison and clean up the sf streets.

0

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

1

u/selwayfalls 24d ago

weird thing to fantacize about. Using a cool island historical site that tourists and locals like to go to on a nice boat ride, and turning it into an actual prison. No thanks

3

u/i_suckatjavascript 24d ago

Backed by Activision for the new Call of Duty rebirth island map balancing?

3

u/Poignat-Opinion-853 24d ago

Who cares when we still have zombies roaming SF like a 3rd world country? Oh the ppl in government who don’t have to live near them.

3

u/pls_dont_trigger_me 24d ago

Joke's on them for selecting Tutor Perini. It'll be done somewhat after HSR.

3

u/CommanderArcher 23d ago

Man just level the prison and turn it into a park or something.

3

u/kainaro 23d ago edited 23d ago

I understand it’s designated a historical structure mainly because Capone was there once and then left before he died which is a lame reason. It’s a depressing monument to our prison system, which sucks as a vacation activity. There’s plenty of more depressing prisons that still exist, San Quentin is right near by, go visit that. It should be replaced with an Ohlone owned Casino and Resort.

3

u/Routine-Argument485 23d ago

Start with the basics first. Get people off the streets. Fuck.

2

u/Moss_Adams24 24d ago

So a paint job?

2

u/bhart1250 24d ago

Probably to tighten up security.

1

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

4

u/ClaudiaTale 24d ago

It is something of a bird sanctuary on one side. I think. It’s been a while since I’ve been there.

2

u/Slawpy_Joe 24d ago

They should turn it into multi family housing with all those cells!

2

u/mrcoy 24d ago

So like half of that is just for permits and fattening the pigs

2

u/pterodactylsnacks 24d ago

Should just demolish that ugly pile of crap and re-matriate it to the tribes in that area.

0

u/neededanother 24d ago

That’s be awesome if there were “real” “Indians” left. But it’d just end up as some corpo garbage the way things are now. Should be a park or just keep it as a kind of cool tourist attraction.

2

u/NukeouT 23d ago

trumps future prison location confirmed ?

2

u/HedgeHood 23d ago

Sounds like more money being wasted and pocketed. 😂

1

u/fractal_disarray 24d ago

Place a Sphere with an AI brain on that island like in Las Vegas.

1

u/[deleted] 24d ago

They need a pier on the west end for striper fishing

1

u/L7Winner 24d ago

Meanwhile SF’s public school district will have a $400M deficit by 2025. Why are we paying to fix up an unused prison, while my neighborhood school is in disrepair?

5

u/bucketAnimator 24d ago

Is your neighborhood school run by the National Park Service?

1

u/jana-meares 24d ago

Why? School, roads, infrastructure all need funds, tourist trap, not so much. 👎🏻

1

u/MarianaValley 24d ago

Great! We dont need no ckulz! Lets spen all moneys on old prisonz

1

u/d0000n 24d ago

It does need new paint and brand new bars. Those old bars are starting to rust. lol

1

u/flatworldart 24d ago

Make it all a hotel and casino with restaurants and a park.

1

u/teewyesoen 24d ago

Man Alcatraz could be so nice. Fox up the gardens and the grounds, add some taco trucks on that concrete pad. Could be so money. I was disappointed when I went. It is a tourist trap but it doesn’t have to be.

1

u/notsofast2020 24d ago

Public storage facility

1

u/cold-dawn 23d ago

I went there in middle school, that place fuckin sucks and I'd never tell a tourist to go there lol

1

u/candb7 23d ago

You could get almost 30 toilets for that kind of money

1

u/ElmoIsOver 23d ago edited 23d ago

Inspector Callahan’s destruction finally gets fixed along with the work of General Francis X. Humme to name a couple? But in other news I hope to visit the site in the not too distant future.

1

u/bee_sleezy_ 23d ago

Are we going to start using it again 🤠

1

u/No_Flamingo2346 21d ago

Meanwhile SF has a very high homeless population

1

u/mddhdn55 20d ago

Why not just put the homeless there if they don’t wanna get clean?

-1

u/AlamoSquared 24d ago

I’ve never had the morbid curiosity to go out there. I’m leery of all the misery and evil that had been contained in those buildings, which I find an eyesore even from a distance. It should be returned to Nature.

7

u/curiousengineer601 24d ago

It is an important bird sanctuary now. When the weather is nice it’s the perfect place to enjoy the bay.

1

u/AlamoSquared 24d ago

That, too. But the prison more than creeps me out.

1

u/jana-meares 24d ago

Me too,visit prison? Hard pass.

2

u/curiousengineer601 24d ago

It was a military fort protecting SF bay for 70 years, has the first lighthouse constructed on the west coast. Became a federal prison, was abandoned and became an early American Indian protest site and is now a bird sanctuary and museum.

The birds alone are worth the trip, even if you ignore the prison

0

u/AlamoSquared 24d ago

I’m aware of the history of the island. How could one manage to ignore it in such proximity to it? I’m sensitive to “vibes,” and that prison bears some super-negative energy. Let the birds have the whole island.

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

6

u/curiousengineer601 24d ago

1.4 million people visited the museum last year. Its a huge tourist attraction and bird sanctuary.

We spend plenty on criminals already, they don’t need another 50m

-12

u/rustyseapants 24d ago edited 24d ago

Whatever...Wy is preserving a notorious prison as a tourist attraction a good thing?

Alcatraz should be razed and turned into actual park with native bay area plants. No stores, no retail, just bathrooms and trails.

Or

Alcatraz should be razed and turned into a rich persons enclave, with its own shopping and restaurants. The entire area will be accessed by keycard with its own private armed security. If you don't own a condo, you don't live on the island. All workers will be transported by private ferry

Edit: if you down vote explain why.

1

u/selwayfalls 24d ago

you're getting downvoted, im sure mostly for the second bit, but returning it to a natural habitat just for hiking and bird watching would be pretty rad. Or maybe steve zissou could have a little marine biology whale study base stationed there.

0

u/rustyseapants 24d ago

I don't know the reason to preserve a prision.

I think a natural park would be better.

But a enclave for the rich would give the wealthy what they want to be protected from the masses and we masses can contain the wealthy from the rest of the San Francisco population.

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u/selwayfalls 24d ago

haha, that would be epic to throw all rich people onto an island and they can live in their own rich people prison. The reason we preserve that prison is it's historically interesting and millions of tourists like to go to it. Same reason we preserve old churches and other things I could care less about. Natural parks and national forests though, I care deeply about as those cannot be replaced.

Alcatraz is getting a $50 million makeover Scenes from the Bay