Trump's Pricey Plan for Alcatraz: How America's Most Notorious Prison Will Cost '$75Million' to Keep Open — Decades After Isolated Penitentiary Which Held Al Capone Shut Down
Trump said Alcatraz 'represents something very strong, very powerful, in terms of law and order.'
May 5 2025, Published 5:45 p.m. ET
Donald Trump's plan to reopen the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary won't be easy – or cheap.
Opening the famed island prison is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars not to mention the cost to keep it up and running, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The famed prison was shut down in 1963 and turned into a tourist attraction.
On Sunday, the president announced his plan to reopen the notorious facility on a hard-to-reach California island off San Francisco. The shuttered site is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern California.
However, in a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump announced: "For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering.
"When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm."
He continued: "No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets. That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders."
The announcement was met with one universal reaction: "How?"
The prison, which one housed high-profile criminals like Al Capone and the O.G. "Machine Gun" Kelly, was closed in 1963 due to crumbling infrastructure.
And because everything from fuel to food had to be brought by boat, the Bureau of Prisons concluded it was three times more expensive to operate than other federal facilities.
Bringing the frozen-in-time facility up to modern-day standards would require a huge investment at a time when similar prisons have been shuttered for the same types of infrastructure issues.
Bringing the facility up to modern standards would cost millions of dollars.
One Democratic policy analyst estimated that rebuilding and reopening Alcatraz could cost between $235million and $370million upfront. That would include at least $175million just to shore up crumbling concrete, retrofit it for earthquakes, and install 21st-century security tech.
Another economics expert said it would then cost $70 million – $75 million a year just to keep it up.
There is also the question of how reopening the storied facility will impact San Francisco's own economy.
Alcatraz Island is now a designated National Historic Landmark. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose district includes the island, said the president's plan would never happen.
"(Alcatraz) is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction," she tweeted. "The President’s proposal is not a serious one."
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Still, the plan does have its proponents, one of which posted on X: "Trump rebuilding Alcatraz is not about operating a cost-efficient supermax prison. It's about creating an iconic deterrent to make criminals know that law and order is back."
While a final decision and plan is yet to be submitted, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons told the Associated Press in a statement that the agency "will comply with all Presidential Orders."
