Experts Say Trump’s Plan to Reopen Alcatraz Not Feasible

John Martini, an expert on Alcatraz history who served as a park ranger on the island in the 1970s, told the San Francisco Chronicle that it would be impossible to reopen the prison because the building is “totally inoperable,” with no water or sewage, and electricity only in certain parts.

Said Martini: “It was falling apart and needed huge amounts of reconstruction, and that would have only brought it up to 1963 code. It was always an extremely expensive place to run.”

In additon, Alcatraz “was nearly three times as expensive as other U.S. prisons to run, due largely to the fact that food, water and fuel had to arrive by boat.”