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A dank, 19th century dungeon wall is about
to be bathed in sunshine for the first time in a century. An earthquake
retrofit for Alcatraz, approved by the National Park Service last week,
will begin in late 2002. The project, which will cost $5 million, will
drill through layers of history as crews shore up the crumbling prison.
Starting from the roof of the federal prison that looms on the tiny
island's crest, new support structures will penetrate down past a Civil
War fort called the Citadel, hidden under the floor of the cell house.
Down in that gloomy redoubt, eight coal bins were once gated and barred,
then used as dungeons. Rebellious prisoners were chained there for bouts
of solitary confinement, through the end of the military era and during
the initial years of the better-known prison period. Spokesman from the
Park Service state they are glad the project will help save the prison;
and preserve the fort which is the oldest part of Alcatraz. The Park
Service is hopeful that artifacts may be discovered, although much of the
Citadel has been searched before.
After experiencing a barrage of sea winds and
salt spray -- as well as episodes of arson and vandalism -- many of the
structures on the island appear down-at-the- heel. The hardship of maintaining
flaking concrete and rusting steel caused Alcatraz to be abandoned as a
federal prison in 1963, and the decay has accelerated in the ensuing four
decades. In 1999, a three-ton piece of catwalk fell, crushing an unoccupied
bird watching area closed to the public. Around the same time, a 100-pound
chunk of concrete plummeted from a balcony near the docks where sightseers
gathered. The piece fell at night, when visitors were absent, but it still
constituted a serious alert to the Park Service.
During daylight prison tours, visitors are
shown through the upper cell house, where they see facilities used by
notorious miscreants. These include solitary-confinement rooms of solid steel
on Cell Block D. But visitors usually remain unaware that just below their
feet, under the concrete floor, lie remnants of the Civil War-era Citadel --
as well as genuine dungeons where Alcatraz's most severe punishments were
delivered. When the concrete prison was erected in the early 1900s, the
Citadel ruins were plunged into utter darkness. The isolated chambers were
fitted with steel doors and ringbolts for shackles, where the most miserable
military convicts were chained. A typical prisoner's solitary stint in a
dungeon lasted 19 days. The scrawl "STR," dated 1939, indicates the punishment
lasted well into the reign of the first civilian warden, James A. Johnston,
who served from 1934 to 1948.
Once he had more modern cells for solitary
available on Cell Block D, Johnston stopped using the underground dungeons. He
then had their doors removed. The Park Service historians believe that the
dungeon doors were removed to prevent their future use in the penal system.
Dungeons Were Once Open to the Public
After the island opened to the public in 1973,
the Park Service used to equip visitors with hard hats and flashlights and
allow small tours to descend to the buried, echoing corridors. However, due to
safety concerns -- as well as the difficulty of complying with the Americans
with Disabilities Act -- the area has long been closed.
The dungeon chambers on the east side have
prisoner ID numbers hacked into the whitewashed brick. Newer graffiti, painted
with black plumes of candle smoke, is from the American Indian occupation that
started Nov. 20, 1969, and lasted 19 months.
Centered within the old moat, the Citadel makes
its last stand. Here, steel- lined embrasures for riflemen face into stygian
darkness.
Citadel Area is Dramatic
Waves washing against exit portals of the
fort's ancient sewers can abruptly shatter the heavy silence with strange
echoes. Rooms of the Citadel's lower floor, used in their final incarnation as
storage vaults for the federal prison above, bear more convict graffiti. Marks
made by work parties include the hastily scratched outline of a woman and many
scrawled names.
Historians say, they still don't like being
down here by themselves-- it's just too spooky.
The feeling that one could be crushed by the
huge prison overhead is pervasive.
The "rust-jacking" effect of steel expanding
within concrete as it corrodes has torn multiple splits in vertical support
columns. It has also shattered brick walls where they meet horizontal support
beams.
In some spots, timbers and pipes have been
pounded together to provide a makeshift fix, like shoring in a mine shaft.
Strain gauges seek to measure ongoing sag and uplift in the overhead slab. If
all goes according to plan, millions of dollars in remedies will be applied
next year. Columns will get fiberglass sheaths to strengthen the roof, and
skylight openings will be reinforced. Next, shear walls and bracing will be
installed in the utility corridors between the cell blocks. Finally, holes
will be knocked through the floor. This will allow faint, filtered sunbeams to
probe down to the dank Citadel moat for the first time in a century.
Next, large thrust collector beams built near
the floor of the prison will be attached to a new footing, which will be
secured by columns that pass through the Citadel and, for the first time,
penetrate the bedrock.
Planned Improvements Include:
-- Restoring Building 64, the Civil War-era
"bombproof barracks" by the docks.
-- Stabilizing a slope above the parade ground,
which leads up to the island's lighthouse.
-- Restoring the tall, steel water tower/tank
that dominates the island's north end.
-- Shaping habitats for Alcatraz's nesting
birds, and providing viewing blinds for the public.
-- Launching gardening projects to trim back
rampant vegetation while preserving the island's many rare plants.
-- Making the island self-sufficient, with
solar-generated electricity and desalinated water.
- Opening a safe way for visitors to explore
the Citadel.
-- A new construction project by the National
Park Service to provide earthquake safety in the historic prison will open up
the concealed Citadel to daylight for the first time in nearly a century. For
safety reasons, the Park Service will be unable to allow the public to visit
that area in the near term.
- -- The cell-house stabilization project will
install shear walls in utility corridors, thrust collector beams will be
attached to new footing, and new columns will extend down through the
Citadel area to tie the structures into the island's bedrock for the first
time. .
-- Alcatraz Island in 1865 as a Civil War Fort
The Citadel - a brick and granite fortress
surrounded by a 15-foot-deep dry moat - was built on Alcatraz in 1859.
Encircling the island and the three- story fort, batteries mounted more than
100 cannons to defend the bay during the Civil War. During this period, the
island began to be used as a military prison. The prison function was to be
emphasized soon there-after. .
-- Alcatraz Today The Citadel was reduced to
its first floor, and a large concrete prison was built above it in 1912. That
prison eventually was transferred from the military to the federal Bureau of
Prisons in 1934. It then housed civilian convicts, including Prohibition-era
gangsters. Spanning both periods, from 1912 to 1940, dungeons in the bowels of
the old, buried Citadel were used to confine the most disruptive inmates.
Return
to Main Alcatraz Page at SFTravel.com
Comprehensive History of
Alcatraz:
The 1700's & 1800's - the beginning
1900-1950 - crime and prison escapes...
1950
until today - the world changes...
