Posted on 05/11/2025 5:55:34 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
When Charlie Hopkins thinks back to the three years he spent in one of America's most famous prisons, he remembers the "deathly quiet" the most.
In 1955, Hopkins was sent to Alcatraz - a famed prison on an isolated island off the coast of San Francisco - after causing trouble at other prisons to serve a 17-year sentence for kidnapping and robbery.
Falling asleep at night in his cell on the remote island, he said, the only sound was the whistle of ships passing.
Now 93 and living in Florida, Hopkins said the San Francisco National Archives informed him that he is likely the last surviving former Alcatraz inmate.
Although it closed decades ago, US President Donald Trump recently claimed that he wants to re-open it as a federal prison.
Alcatraz "represents something very strong, very powerful" - law and order, Trump said.
But experts and historians said Trump's proposal to re-establish the prison is far-fetched, as it would cost billions to repair and bring up to date with other federal facilities.
Hopkins agrees. "It would be so expensive," he said.
"Back then, the sewage system went into the ocean," he added. "They'd have to come up with another way of handling that."
But the avid Trump supporter said he does not believe the president's proposal is serious.
"He don't really want to open that place," Hopkins said, adding that Trump was trying to "get a point across to the public" about punishing criminals and those who enter the US illegally.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
WTH you babbling about?
“Expensive demolition”?
How so?
Biden spent hundreds of billions of tax payer dollars putting illegals in posh hotels and paying illegals lots of tax payer dollars, yet you whine about the cost of rebuilding a redesigned old prison?
Read your post I responded to. I was surprised you dissed our president. Never saw you do that before.
It’s the perfect facility for the traitors in our government.
I’m 50/50 on whether Trump is serious or just laser pointing the media to make a point about law and order.
“””””The guy who was formerly a prisoner on Alcatraz has a good grasp on what renovation would mean - $$$$$$$$$$$$”””””
Besides, he was just giving an opinion as a guy who lived there and knew the place 65 years ago, not as an engineer, or expert, or as a political statement.
Imagine the Environmental Impact Statement logjam that will be created.
“Environmental Impact Statement” huh?
Now you’ve been reduced to babbling utter nonsense.
“ Read your post I responded to. I was surprised you dissed our president. Never saw you do that before.”
I never have
I was referring to the subject
The ex con
LOL, you sure woke up in a nasty mood this morning, as far as demolition, my dad had a demolition business sometimes and I remember what he ran into when he demolished the 120 year old cotton warehouses and docks in Galveston, Texas, the thick old concrete was a bear.
We can build a secure prison anywhere, new and fresh, located where a quality labor force and a friendlier state government and state laws and regulations exist.
As to being a "remote island" it's inside San Francisco, only a mile from the Marina.
To keep the dust and debris out of the Bay and load it out for safe disposal. It ain't cheap, and it will all have to be removed down to parent rock, as the original concrete was made from seawater.
-PJ
They wanted to offer him his old room back.
“docks” being the loading docks at the warehouses.
I don’t think DJT is really going to reopen Alcatraz, they shut it down because it was too expensive to operate in the first place. To get anything there and back costs money, let alone refurbishing the Rock. We could just use Gitmo or build a new one.
Alcatraz was closed b/c it was prohibitively expensive to operate. We were told on a tour that everything had to be hauled over by boat, including water.
More money is being made as a tourist attraction - we tried to get tickets last summer when we were there and all of the tours were sold out. And, they’re not cheap.
Better are remote places like Pelican Bay in a very desolate part of California along the coast. There is nothing there - it was built there to prevent the inmates families from settling in the area.
Look Trump has done plenty of big demolitions and construction in very high population density Manhattan for decades.
He knows something about that.
How many huge construction projects have you ever done?
He wasn’t talking about rebuilding it or running it. He was using common sense which isn’t very common here today!
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