At the former federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island, what remains of the porcelain basins in the 336 cells is cracked and crumbling, like just about everything else in the 93-year-old facility. Most of the receptacles aren’t just broken, they’re absent; the only signs of their former purpose are holes in the cell floors.
The remains of the warden's house on Alcatraz Island. | Source: Lea Suzuki/SF Chronicle/Getty Images
Source: Robert Alexander/Getty Images
Source: Lea Suzuki/SF Chronicle/Getty Images
If the Trump administration fulfills its hallucinatory plan to rebuild Alcatraz and surround it with man-eating sharks, it’s got its work cut out for it. Think building a wall across the Southern border was hard? Wait till the Army Corps of Engineers gets a load of the missing sewage, electric, gas, and water systems on the island.
Did you know the prison’s effluent used to flow directly into the bay? Hard to see even a Trump-streamlined Environmental Protection Agency rubber-stamping that. (And don’t get attorneys started on the California Environmental Quality Act.)
Source: Paul Rovere/Getty Images
Source: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Source: Robert Alexander/Getty Images
If the administration is serious about restoring Alcatraz as a federal prison, it would be better off dynamiting the whole thing and starting over, experts say. Of course that might also prove problematic, as Alcatraz is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
Though Trump is supposedly a fan of the 1996 film “The Rock,” there’s no record of him having ever stepped on the island. This is what he’ll see if he does.
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The ruins of the Social Hall, also known as the Officers' Club, at the former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The structure was destroyed by fire during the Native-American occupation of the island in 1970. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images) | Source: Robert Alexander/Getty Images
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 24: A view of Alcatraz Island during Alcatraz City Cruises' celebration in partnership with the National Parks Service of the 50th Anniversary of Alcatraz Island opening as a National Park on October 24, 2023 in San Francisco, California. | Source: Araya Doheny/Getty Images
View of Alcatraz Prison, San Francisco Bay, California. | Source: UCG/Getty Images
ourists are seen at Alcatraz Island on August 15, 2023 in San Francisco, California, United States. Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay is the home of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Now a museum, the prison also called as ''The Rock'' is managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The prison was in operation from 1861 until 1963. Each year, more than 1.5 million visitors travel to Alcatraz Island. | Source: TayfunCoskun/Anadolu/Getty Images
Defensive cannon at Alcatraz Island Prison. | Source: Loop Images/Getty Images
A general view of a watchtower at Alcatraz Island on December 17, 2019, in San Francisco, California. Located in San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles offshore from the city of San Francisco, Alcatraz Island - also known as "The Rock" - is a former high-security prison that is now visited by thousands of tourists each year since its closure in 1963. | Source: Paul Rovere/Getty Images
National Park Service resumes tourist visits to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, August 17, 2020. The boats are limited to 150 passengers each and island capacity is 750. After closing to the public a second time in December 2020 due to another virus surge, Alcatraz will reopen to tours on Monday, March 12, 2021. | Source: Scott Strazzante/SF Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 02: Visitors tour a cellblock at Alcatraz Island on July 02, 2025 in San Francisco, California. U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his plans to reopen the tourist attraction Alcatraz prison as a working federal penitentiary. In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, President Trump said that conceptual work to renovate the prison had begun six months ago, and several prison development firms have been involved in preliminary planning. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) | Source: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
A sign reading Area Closed for Your Safety is seen at the Warden's House on Alcatraz Island on Monday, May 5, in San Francisco. President Donald Trump ordered that federal agencies work to reopen Alcatraz as a prison more than 60 years after its closure. (Photo by Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) | Source: Lea Suzuki/SF Chronicle/Getty Images
A general view of Alcatraz Island on December 17, 2019, in San Francisco, California. Located in San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles offshore from the city of San Francisco, Alcatraz Island - also known as "The Rock" - is a former high-security prison that is now visited by thousands of tourists each year since its closure in 1963. | Source: Paul Rovere/Getty Images
A general view of Alcatraz Island on December 17, 2019, in San Francisco, California. Located in San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles offshore from the city of San Francisco, Alcatraz Island - also known as "The Rock" - is a former high-security prison that is now visited by thousands of tourists each year since its closure in 1963. | Source: Paul Rovere/Getty Images
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 12, 2018: The entrance to the Administration Building at the former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Now a museum, the prison (often referred to as 'The Rock') is managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Alcatraz Prison was in operation from 1934 until 1963. The former penitentiary is the most popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images) | Source: Robert Alexander/Getty Images
