So long Alcatraz?

Captain_Kirk · Feb 7, 2008

Has to be one of the favorite places I've ever visited on vacation.

The day we were there, one of the former prisoners was there meeting folks, signing authographs. Not too many of those guys left.

Then, we bought a book in the bookstore, and when we got back to SF, the author was there doing a book signing.

It's a pretty complete accounting of Alcatraz and a good read if you're interested. The details on all the escape attempts and the elaborate planning and thinking that went into these attempts are fascinating:

Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years
by Michael Esslinger

Simon_Cowbell · Feb 7, 2008

cranberry said:

I took the family for the night tour while I was in SF for the All-Star Game last summer. I went there thinking it would be pretty hokey but I was absolutely blown away. I don't usually bother with audio tours but this one was awesome -- former guards and prisoners guide you through the place and tell stories from back the heyday. Save the Rock!
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Do yourself a favor if you go... Sit on the top step in the exercise area (Where Clint sat in EFA).... The chilly, freshening breeze envelopes you and, on a clear day, the city across the bay is the American Paris.

I sat there for 20 minutes last time I went. Wind was so cold that I was practically alone.

cranberry · Feb 7, 2008

Simon_Cowbell said:

cranberry said:

I took the family for the night tour while I was in SF for the All-Star Game last summer. I went there thinking it would be pretty hokey but I was absolutely blown away. I don't usually bother with audio tours but this one was awesome -- former guards and prisoners guide you through the place and tell stories from back the heyday. Save the Rock!
Click to expand...

Do yourself a favor if you go... Sit on the top step in the exercise area (Where Clint sat in EFA).... The chilly, freshening breeze envelopes you and, on a clear day, the city across the bay is the American Paris.

I sat there for 20 minutes last time I went. Wind was so cold that I was practically alone.
Click to expand...

I know the spot you're talking about. We took a lot of photos of SF from a similar vantage point.

TheSportsPredictor · Feb 7, 2008

Give the peace center a chance!

Rosie · Feb 7, 2008

This has got to be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of.

Ace · Feb 7, 2008

Damn hippies!

fishwrapper · Feb 7, 2008

PCLoadLetter said:

Screw these guys.

My grandfather was a [guard] on Alcatraz. It's always very cool to see it when I'm in the Bay Area.
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Fixed.

EStreetJoe · Feb 7, 2008

It's not happening
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/02/05/politics/p144849S56.DTL&hw=alcatraz&sn=001&sc=1000

S.F. voters reject proposal for Alcatraz peace center

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

San Francisco (AP) -- Alcatraz escaped plans for change, with voters rejecting a proposal that would have torn down the island's notorious prison to erect a global peace center.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, about 72 percent of San Francisco voters opposed the measure, while 28 percent supported it.

The measure, Proposition C, was not legally binding. It called for supporting the idea of transferring Alcatraz from federal to city hands, razing most of its notorious prison and building a global peace center.

By converting the island, "a place of pain and suffering," into a "JEWEL OF LIGHT," said a Web site promoting the center, "We will activate Powerful Forces for Cooperation, Reconciliation & Healing."

Supporters said the center would be a more uplifting symbol for the region. But opponents said Alcatraz is a major tourist attraction and important historic landmark that needs to stay as it is.

Alcatraz gets about 1.4 million visitors a year, most of them drawn by the old federal penitentiary. It also is the site of a civil war fortress, a military prison and is known for a 19-month American Indian occupation in 1969-71 that is considered a key moment in American Indian activism.

Opponents noted it would take an act of Congress to put the island under city control. They also pointed out the estimated $1 billion conversion cost.
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Fenian_Bastard · Feb 7, 2008

Simon_Cowbell said:

I always thought that they should make a hotel out of it, with full simulation of prison conditions.
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So, basicaly, a Hyatt, right?

fishwrapper · Feb 7, 2008

C'mon, guys. It's really not that great. It's really expensive. A bit redundant. And fucking cold out there.
There's a reason why they sent prisoners there. Why don't you go make a day trip to Folsom, instead?

goalmouth · Feb 7, 2008

OK, if the peace center idea is dead, how about Alcatrazoo? I'd pay to see a concert there, for sure.

Simon_Cowbell · Feb 7, 2008

fishwrapper said:

C'mon, guys. It's really not that great. It's really expensive. A bit redundant. And fucking cold out there.
There's a reason why they sent prisoners there. Why don't you go make a day trip to Folsom, instead?
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The boat ride and time in the prison yard, by itself, is worth the ticket to me.

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