Alcatraz Island, a military fort turned an army prison in the San Francisco Bay, is most well known for operating as a federal prison from 1934 until 1963.
That distinction is being challenged after more than 50 years of functioning as the has drawn the attention of President Donald Trump who wants to convert the national park back into a prison.
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WATCH HEREOn social media, Trump said that he was directing federal agencies to "reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
While Trump said Alcatraz prison — also known as "The Rock" — is a "symbol of law and order," such an idealistic emblem would be a realistic expense for taxpayers. History shows us that the island operating as a prison had been too costly.
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SIGN UP Why was Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary too expensive?
The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary officially closed more than 62 years ago. The maximum-security, minimum-privilege prison operated for nearly 30 years but shut down because it cost three times more to run Alcatraz than other federal prisons, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
To compare, the daily cost in Alcatraz to operate per prisoner in 1959 was $10.10, or $106.25 when adjusted for inflation. For U.S. Penitentiary Atlanta — a low-security prison that opened in 1902 now called Federal Correctional Institution, Atlanta — the daily operating cost per prisoner in 1959 was $3, or $31.56 when adjusted for inflation.
Additionally, if the prison were to have continued operations, the crumbling Alcatraz would have required a restoration and maintenance project that cost up to $5 million, or more than $50 million when adjusted for inflation.
The reason for the high expenses was the island's isolation. All supplies such as food, water, fuel and medicine had to be brought in by barges.
"The island had no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week. The Federal Government found that it was more cost-effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open," the BOP writes on its .
Why was the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary created?
The U.S. Army used the island as a fort starting in 1850 to protect the San Francisco Bay during the California Gold Rush. The Army installed cannons on the island and also constructed the first operational lighthouse in the U.S. West Coast.
The necessity to keep Alcatraz as a fort was short-lived, however. The island never once fired its guns and in less than 10 years, the island became of a military prison.
In 1933, ownership of the island was transferred from the military to the Department of Justice, which authorized the Federal Bureau of Prisons to use it.
The concept of the original Alcatraz federal prison was partly idealistic, as it was meant to "to deal with the most incorrigible inmates in Federal prisons, and to show the law-abiding public that the Federal Government was serious about stopping the rampant crime of the 1920s and 1930s," according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The prison never once reached its capacity of 336 prisoners, housing up to 275 inmates on average.
Who has been imprisoned in Alcatraz?
Over the decades, the Alcatraz federal prison has been an infamous part of modern American culture due to some of its inmates.
One of the most notorious inmates is known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz," popularized by a of the same name. The inmate's real name was Robert Stroud, who had spent 54 years imprisoned in various institutions — mainly in solitary confinement.
Stroud spent about 30 years behind bars in Kansas at U.S. Penitentiary Leavenworth, now known as Federal Correctional Institution, Leavenworth. While in Kansas, Stroud developed an interest in birds and eventually wrote two ornithological books. Stroud was initially allowed to maintain and raise birds. However, the Bureau of Prisons notes Lancaster's paternal portrayal was not accurate for the convicted murderer.
"Stroud never had any birds at Alcatraz, nor was he the grandfatherly person portrayed by Burt Lancaster in the well-known movie. In 1909, Stroud was convicted of manslaughter; while serving his prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary, McNeil Island, Washington, he viciously attacked another inmate. This resulted in his transfer to USP Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1916, he murdered a Leavenworth guard, was convicted of first-degree murder, and received a death sentence" that would later be converted to life in prison," the agency writes.
Other infamous convicted criminals detained in Alcatraz:
- — Chicago mob boss who built a crime empire during Prohibition before being jailed for tax evasion
- — Kidnapper and bootlegger, known for his Tommy gun and the high-profile
- — Leader of the Barker-Karpis Gang and the last “Public Enemy No. 1” captured by the FBI
- — Violent member of the Barker gang, killed during an escape attempt from Alcatraz in 1939
While Alcatraz has had some famous inmates, the Federal Bureau of Prison said that most inmates were not famed gangsters but "prisoners who refused to conform to the rules and regulations at other Federal institutions, who were considered violent and dangerous, or who were considered escape risks."
The FBI said 36 men attempted to escape Alcatraz in 14 separate attempts. Most were either caught or didn't survive.
The most famous of the escape attempts was dramatized in the 1979 film “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clint Eastwood, which shows the dramatization of the escape of John Anglin, Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris, who though made a daring escape, are considered "missing and presumed drowned."
More Alcatraz coverage:
Can Trump reopen Alcatraz as a prison again?
Alcatraz Island is currently managed by the National Park Service under the Department of the Interior. Considering they are Cabinet agencies operating under the executive branch, President Trump does have the authority to direct agencies to transfer responsibility of Alcatraz back to the Bureau of Prisons under the Department of Justice.
After Trump's announcement on reopening Alcatraz, the Bureau of Prisons told the that it would "comply with all Presidential Orders."
The Bureau of Prisons currently has 16 penitentiaries performing the same high-security functions as Alcatraz. The agency last year closed several facilities, in part to cut costs, but is also in the process of building a new prison in Kentucky.
Bringing the facility up to modern-day standards would require massive investments at a time when the Bureau of Prisons has been shuttering prisons for similar infrastructure issues.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
