This story was originally produced by the Portsmouth Herald. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
A feasibility study on the future of the former Portsmouth Naval Shipyard building, long ago abandoned by the Navy, may be on the horizon.
This spring, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, requested $5 million in federal funding in the fiscal year 2027 appropriations legislation for a planning study. The funds would be used to determine whether “The Alcatraz of the East” could be given new life and reutilized as a “sailor campus" over a phased process, according to Shaheen’s request.
A sailor campus could include recreational programs and support services for Navy sailors stationed at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard while their submarines are undergoing repairs.
The old 320-cell prison, known as Building 93 next to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, held more than 83,600 sentenced sailors and Marines during its 66-year history. It remains a local landmark decades after the Navy vacated the property in 1974 due to high operating costs.
Read more of this story at Seacoastonline.com.
