Anyone been to ALcatraz Island?

[bat1]

Talking about building a hotel there......

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The National Park Service is considering adding a hotel to Alcatraz Island, site of one of the world's most notorious prisons.


Unlike the cells afforded to inmates such as Al "Scarface" Capone, the facility would offer upscale accommodations like those now available at the Ahwahnee Hotel in California's Yosemite National Park.

"People are constantly saying they want to see more of the island," National Park Service Spokesman Rich Weideman said. "A hotel would be the ultimate experience in visitor access."

Alcatraz Island is run by the U.S. National Park Service and is already San Francisco's second most-popular tourist attraction, after its famed cable cars.

About 1.5 million people take ferries to visit the prison cellblock every year, and summer tickets sell out weeks ahead.

But many visitors say they also want to see parts of the 12-acre (5-hectare) island that are closed to the public, including wildlife areas, the room where prison guards bowled and the prison theater where gangsters watched "From Here to Eternity."

A hotel, likely built in a structure that once housed prison guards, would for the first time offer the general public 24-hour access to "the Rock" and capitalize on the park's popular night-time tours.

That's when evening fog shrouds San Francisco from view. But island visitors, like the prisoners before them, can still hear activity emanating from the city.

"It's a very eerie experience," Weideman said.

Many development ideas, including adding a casino or a new prison, have been floated since the federal penitentiary closed on Alcatraz in 1963, according to newspaper USA Today. But the island's status as a national historic landmark set within a national park has made development difficult.

The hotel is one of several proposals the park service is now weighing as part of its new general management plan, which will guide park development and renovation for the next 20 years.

Others include serving food to visitors in the prison cafeteria and adding boat tours to the island's perimeter.

The park service is taking comment on the proposals and will use public remarks to create a new draft of the general plan next year, Weideman said.

[justatransgirl]

....

[GroobySteven]

Luis and I were there on Friday!
Very cool tour.

[Trans Mission]

Bat - they just want you to think it's a hotel...

It's really the next step in putting the entire country in jail. I mean why else would every other show on TV be about prison or cops or car chases or prostitution?

First they get you primed, then they entice you in with ads of a luxury hotel, then the next thing you know you will be processed into little protien squares to feed an overpopulated planet.

We gotta get off this rock!

Giggle,
TS Jamie

Isn't that where you and your genre march in to save the day? No reproduction there, built in population control.

Bless your heart(s).

[Anubis1079]

I've been there several times and it's cool. I'd stay there the night if they built a hotel

[TJT]

I remember when the Indians took it over in the 70's. If you could get a boat over you were welcome to stay for awhile if they though you were cool.

[trannybanger]

it is really cool, i remember at one time they were doing night tours, not sure if it was an all night thing, or what... but a hotel? seriously it would take a 1/2 hour or more on one of those damn ferries everytime you wanted anything... hassle

[Paladin]

it is really cool, i remember at one time they were doing night tours, not sure if it was an all night thing, or what... but a hotel? seriously it would take a 1/2 hour or more on one of those damn ferries everytime you wanted anything... hassle

The ferry takes less than 15 minutes.

I was there 2 weeks ago.

Building anything there like a hotel would be problematic because there is NO sewage system on the island!?! (I wonder what they did with the "honey buckets/ barges"), and that was one reason it was closed as a prison in the first place.

Getting stuff there wouldn't be a real problem, but it would probably take daily - or more often - ships to bring in items and take off garbage.

The water / sewer is the biggest hurdle though...

[blckhaze]

On my list of things to do.


After seeing places like Riker's Island in NYC, and more notably Robben Island and Pollsmoor Prison (the two prisons which held Nelson Mandela and his compatriots) Ive become intrigued by older prisons, so I plan to visit a few more if I can.

[Paladin]

Next thing you know the iraqi govt will announce plans to make abu grab-ass into a 4 star resort.

It will feature the same level of building excellence as the recently completed iraqi police adademy barracks where the light fixtures in the ceilings leak liquid and solid sewage!