But while the Otago Corrections Facility is the real thing as far as a prison is concerned, the new Alcatraz is a storage and lock-up facility, with the man behind it hoping to cash in on the notorious name as it is in the same neighbourhood as a real prison.
Selwyn Wilkinson has already started earthworks on the 3111sq m site across the road from the prison and hopes to be open for business by the end of the year.
The Milton businessman admits to having a long-held fascination with the name Alcatraz but never thought he would be able to use it for one of his own projects.
He has applied for resource consent for a 60-unit storage facility, capable of holding anything from furniture to vehicles.
The project would cost an estimated $600,000.
Mr Wilkinson once worked for a concrete firm in Perth which had a lock-up facility nicknamed Alcatraz and he thought then it would be a great name to attach to a similar development in New Zealand.
He had inspected the famed island prison off San Francisco when he visited the United States, and he had made up his mind then that if he ever built anything like a storage facility, that Alcatraz would be its name.
That dream became a reality last year when he and wife Julie bought the Milburn section with the old Milburn school house.
The site was cleared and levelled and the building demolished last September by contractors, including Mr Wilkinson.
A large 2.5m-high wire fence surrounds the site, giving the appearance of a self-contained lock-up facility which, he said, had already attracted plenty of interested and curious stares from passing motorists.
He wanted to build two 30m x 15m sheds, each containing 30 internal sheds ranging in size from 1.5m x 1.5m up to 9m x 3m compartments.
Mr Wilkinson has already had strong interest from companies and individuals seeking to rent space.
The flood-proofed site would have electronic gates and cameras and clients would be issued with swipe cards, giving them 24-hour access to the site and their belongings.
The couple had also arranged to use more land at the southern end of the site which could be expanded to eventually accommodate 250 units, depending on demand for the first stage.
He had already been teased about the Alcatraz name but believed it added novelty value to the facility.
‘‘This place will be a lot like Alcatraz.
‘‘You can get in but getting out is another matter.''
