Own A Piece Of The Rock

Now you can own a piece of The Rock, also known as Alcatraz Island.

The National Park Service has started selling boxed chunks of concrete from the federal prison that once housed Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert "Birdman" Stroud.

Retailing for $4.95, the souvenirs are available because the park service is renovating the decaying cell house and a guards quarters on the isolated island in San Francisco Bay.

The $7.7 million effort to stabilize the structure is the largest capital project on the island since the penitentiary was closed in 1963.

Richard Weideman, a spokesman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, said park staff came up with the idea for the mementos as an alternative to ferrying tons of rubble off Alcatraz.

The proposal to peddle the chips off the old cell block was initially met with criticism from what Weideman calls "traditionalists" within the park service who objected to merchandising the landmark structures.

"Some people look at this as, 'How can you sell pieces of a historic building? It would be like selling pieces of Independence Hall,'" he said. "We don't think it detracts from the historic significance of the buildings because this stuff wouldn't even be retained on the island. It would be dumped in a landfill."

Since the "Save the Rock" campaign began a week and a half ago, the cleaned and packaged slices of correctional history have been selling at a rate of 20 to 30 a day. Park staff, who have about 500 ready to go, expect the rocks to bring in tens of thousands of dollars over several years.