because the vegetation was overgrown everywhere. it was a jungle. trees coming through the buildings. reporter: they have been working for ten years to refurbish the building and have run out of money. they need money to keep it going are they have return the $5$512,000 in grants. it s a shame the island is unrealized fully for this amount of time. it could be something the nation would be proud of. reporter: one of the hopes to generate income and rent structures out for conferences, educational seminars and even overnight accommodations. there is the former 750-bed hospital where 1.2 million immigrants were inspected and treated. the laundry outbuilding that still has the original machinery, including the laundry mangle. early on, there would be multiple workers that had to wrest with le with the sheets, t we all do. then someone thought of a beautiful piece of equipment to untangle and separate