The institution became too expensive to operate. It costed $3-5 million for restoration and maintenance work alone to keep the prison open. That was 3x more than any other federal prison of its time.
It's still open as a tourist spot. As said by previous poster is was closed as a jail as it was expensive to run. For a short time after the island was for sale.
It's recent shutdown was for budget purposes. Without an approved budget the national park system doesn't function. So it goes on furlough.
During the tour it explains that after the escapes and attempts they did not feel the cost for the prison was worth it. It was supposed to be inescapable, since there were escapes the cost to maintain it was no longer worth it
If I understand it right, Alcatraz shut down as a jail because of lack of funds. They could not keep enough jailers there and so on to keep the place running.
It was probably due to the government shutdown. Since its a part of the national park system.
Because it was expensive to pay for, and it was hard to keep up to date with everything in the building.
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