Alligator Alcatraz was built in 8 days last summer. Now, almost a year to the day since it opened, officials are closing it down.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said there was "no question" the facility was successful. At a press conference on Wednesday, he said the high cost to build the temporary facility was a good use of the state’s resources.
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But Center for Biological Diversity attorney Elise Bennett, one of the lawyers on a case to shut down the detention center, said the governor never actually said it was shutting down. And one of her biggest concerns is that it could reopen.
“What we're most concerned about is this project coming back alive like a zombie," Bennett said. "And so we want to be sure that this is closing, that all of the infrastructure is being taken off the site, and that there's not a risk of it reopening.”
Bennett said the governor alluded to the facility being closed down at his press conference earlier this week, and she thinks that's a "huge milestone and victory" in protecting Big Cypress and the Everglades.
"Were going to celebrate this moment, but we're ready to roll up our sleeves and keep working," she said. "Not just to undo the harm that's already been done at the site by this facility, but to figure out how to make sure nothing like this, no kind of development or intensification of the site, can ever happen again."
Attorneys return to court soon. The case will go before the same federal judge, Hon. Kathleen Williams, who ordered it to wind down last year.
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Bennett said they want assurances the site is shutting down for good, a transparent public evaluation of all the harm caused, and any damage is cleaned up and paid for.
The sooner the site is dismantled, the better, according to Bennett. She said they have evidence that operating the facility has damaged the ecosystem — from bright lights disrupting the night skies and nocturnal species to new paving and pollutant runoff.
She added Alligator Alcatraz "has represented an enormous breach of the public's trust."
"When you have a breach of trust, it's going to be hard for the public to really believe that this is finally over," she said. "That is why we're not letting up until we know for sure, and we have it documented and before a court what is actually happening here."
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
