Alcatraz To Close Next Year
July 3, 1962 - Alcatraz, the Federal prison on an island in San Francisco Bay, will begin closing next year. James V. Bennett (pictured), director of the Bureau of Prisons, said today that the first transfer of prisoners will begin when the new Federal prison at Marion, Ill., is completed next year. Federal authorities regard Alcatraz as obsolete and unworthy of expensive overhaul. “It would cost a lot of money to put it in tip-top shape,” Mr. Bennett said, “and we have serio