Washington [US], April 5: US President Donald Trump's new budget proposal asks Congress for $152 million to reopen the notorious Alcatraz prison.
Released by the White House on Friday, the budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year asks for funding to rebuild Alcatraz as a "state-of-the-art secure prison facility."
The funding would cover the first year of the project's costs and is a part of a larger $1.7 billion request to fund "crumbling detention facilities" in the US.
In May, Trump said he had given instructions to the relevant authorities to rebuild and reopen the prison.
Known as "The Rock," Alcatraz was a maximum security prison located on a wind-swept island in the bay of San Francisco. For 29 years, the island served as a place of exile for the "worst of the worst," troublemakers and masters of escape. The last prisoners to be held there were released in 1963.
The jail was considered escape-proof and thus suited to felons like Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly Barnes, Alvin "Creepy Karpis" Karpavicz and Robert Stroud. A total of 1,576 were incarcerated there during its time in service, that began in 1934.
Alcatraz Island is now a museum and a national historic landmark as well as a protected breeding ground for birds. Some 1.2 million people visit the island every year.
Source: Qatar Tribune
