Getting into Alcatraz: the video that will chill you
Alcatraz has been a tourist attraction longer than it was a prison. But once you get there, the fascinating facts begin to unfold.
Alcatraz has now been a tourist attraction for far longer than it was a federal prison – 42 years versus 29. And the word means “pelican.”
I picked up these nuggets while visiting the San Francisco island in mid-November – my first trip, after 54 years as a Californian. Here’s the video, less than two minutes, which features those and several other facts that surprised me.
I never came before because I figured I knew the story already. Bird Man. Al Capone. No known escapes. Yadda yadda yadda. And the round trip by ferry from Pier 33 does cost $31-$38 for adults ($19.25-$37 for kids aged 5-17).
But it is a fascinating place. The history and atmosphere concentrated on those 22 acres are richer than I imagined, including the island’s first use as a military installation in the 1850s.
Clearly, other people have understood this for years. Annual attendance is about 1.4 million. Tickets often sell out a month in advance.
And now the island, 1.5 miles off Fisherman’s Wharf, may start drawing visitors of a different stripe. After the runaway success of artist Ai Weiwei’s installation on worldwide political prisoners there in 2014-15, the former prison’s high-ceilinged, light-filled, splendidly dilapidated New Industries Building is likely to become a prime venue for art displays.
The current show, visible in the video, is “Prisoners of Age,” a striking collection of 60 photographs and quotes from American and Canadian convicts who are senior citizens. The images were shot by Ron Levine. The exhibit has been extended through June 2016.
Alcatraz was converted from a military installation to a federal prison in 1934. It closed in early 1963, then opened to the public as a unit of the National Park Service in 1973.
Also in the video: The protesters who occupied the island in 1969-70; and the notorious former inmate who became a fugitive, yet dared to return to the island, undetected, as a tourist. I’m not going to give the whole little story away, but that guy (named in the video) is now in a different prison, and not as a tourist.
“A Minute Away” is a video series in which nothing much happens -- except you see the world, and hear it, and get a respite from workaday life. We’ve covered Machu Picchu, Red Square, the Yucatan, the Alamo, an Alaskan float plane and the reading room of the New York Public Library, among other places. Since early 2013, we’ve been adding a new minute every week (and some of those “minutes” are closer to 120 seconds). So if you’d prefer an hour or two away, we’ve got more than enough here for you…
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