Make Alcatraz a Prison Again? The Impact on San Francisco’s Iconic Tour

Trips to Alcatraz represent big business for San Francisco-based tour operators, so they're paying close attention to President Trump's plan.

President Donald Trump has long vowed to bring America back to an earlier era. His latest retro idea: Make Alcatraz a prison again. “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” he wrote Sunday on Truth Social.

Setting aside whether the plan is feasible, it would effect of one San Francisco's most popular tours.

Alcatraz, which once housed the gangsters Al Capone and Whitey Bulger, closed in 1963 because the penitentiary was too expensive to operate. A decade later, Alcatraz opened to the public as a national park. Today, the site welcomes 1.2 million visitors a year and generates over $60 million in revenue for the National Park Service.

“I always like to say, Alcatraz was kind of the beginning of a museum movement, which we have worl