The Model Industries building or Industries Building is a three/four-story building on the northwest corner of

Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

off the coast of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, USA. This building was originally built by the U.S. military and was used as a laundry building until the

New Industries Building The New Industries Building is a building on the western end of Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco, United States. It was constructed in 1939 for $186,000 as part of a $1.1 million modernization scheme which also included the water to ...

was built as part of a redevelopment program on Alcatraz in 1939 when it was a federal penitentiary. As part of the Alcatraz jail, it held workshops for inmates to work in. On January 10, 1935, the building shifted to within 2.5 feet from the edge of the cliff following a landslide caused by a severe storm. The warden at the time, James A. Johnston, proposed to extend the seawall next to it and asked the Bureau for $6500 to fund it. He would later claim to dislike the building because it was irregularly shaped. A smaller, cheaper riprap was completed by the end of 1935. A

guard tower A guard tower is any military tower used for guarding an area. These towers are usually operated by military personnel, and are structures built in areas of established control. These include military bases and cities occupied by military forces. ...

and a catwalk from Hill Tower was added to the roof of the Industries Building in June 1936 and the building was made secure with bars from old cells to bar the windows and grill the roof ventilators and to prevent inmates from escaping from the roof. It ceased use as a laundry in 1939 when it was moved to the upper floor of the New Industries Building. Today the building is heavily rusted due decades of exposure to the salt air and wind and the Hill Tower no longer exists. The guard tower formerly located on top of the building now sits across from the Power plant where it is on display.

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{{coord, 37, 49, 40, N, 122, 25, 31, W, type:landmark, display=title Alcatraz Island