Federal prison officials visited Alcatraz last week after Donald Trump announced earlier this month his plan to rebuild and reopen the notorious island prison, which has been closed for over 60 years.
David Smith, superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), told the San Francisco Chronicle that Federal Bureau of Prisons officials plan to return for further structural assessments.
“They have been out here. They’ll be coming out again to do assessments of the structure,” Smith said.
Alcatraz has been closed since 1963, when then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered its shutdown due to high operating costs, limited space, and multiple escape attempts.
BOP director William Marshall told Fox News that engineering teams are currently surveying the site. “We’ve got engineering teams out there now that are doing some assessments, and so I’m just really excited about the opportunity and possibilities,” he said.
In recent months, the US government has moved to reopen at least five previously closed detention centers and prisons.
California lawmakers have dismissed the Alcatraz proposal as a “distraction” and not a serious plan, but the Trump administration is actively working—with help from private prison companies—to reopen other facilities, some of which are already operational again.
Tourists photograph Alcatraz Island from a San Francisco ferry, Monday, May 5, 2025.
Smith expressed skepticism about reopening Alcatraz, citing the large financial investment and legal challenges it would entail. He said it’s “just not well-situated” for the Bureau of Prisons.
However, Marshall called the proposal “exciting” and doable. He suggested modern, lightweight materials could overcome some of the island’s logistical challenges.
“When you think of Alcatraz, you think of Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Lambeau Field, those types of facilities … you just get that kind of feeling about Alcatraz when you think of those historical venues,” Marshall told Fox News’s My View with Lara Trump, Trump’s daughter-in-law.
“And so, yeah, we absolutely think we can get it done.”
Meanwhile, the GGNRA is carrying out seismic retrofitting projects on the island, including pier reinforcement and stabilizing the aging cellhouse to prevent further deterioration.
