August 21, 2010
Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation
Media Contact: Christy Fleming 307-250-5542
Heart Mountain Board Sets 2011 Center Opening
CODY, Wyoming—The long-awaited Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center, located midway between the
towns of Powell and Cody, will hold its grand opening a year from now, it was announced Saturday by the Heart
Mountain Wyoming Foundation (HMWF) board of directors.
The HMWF board also approved the appointment of Kathleen Saito Yuille as chair of the national planning
committee that will coordinate the Aug. 19-21, 2011 festivities. Yuille, whose committee includes individuals from
Wyoming, California, Utah, Washington, and the East Coast, was born at Heart Mountain.
The board meeting culminated three days of activities as more than 100 former internees, families, and friends
converged to celebrate the progress on the 11,000 sq. ft Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center at the
historic site where a World War II internment camp once existed.
“We are entering an exciting new phase in the development of the Interpretive Learning Center. What began as a
remote dream 14 years ago, with a core group of Wyoming friends led by Dave Reetz and former internees, will
soon become a reality,” stated Shirley Ann Higuchi, HMWF board chair.
Higuchi added that the Center will not only help preserve and commemorate the site, stories, and artifacts
associated with Heart Mountain, but it will eventually support advanced studies in the psychological and legal
aspects of the Japanese American internment experience in collaboration with other organizations, museums, and
universities.
Reetz recently stepped down as HMWF executive director and president to pursue other personal and professional
endeavors, but will remain on the board of directors.
Located between the towns of Cody and Powell, Wyoming and about 64 miles east of Yellowstone National Park,
the $5.3 million Center is designed in a style reminiscent of the wartime barracks erected in 1942. HMWF founding
board member Patricia Wolfe suggested the concept, which was subsequently executed by Schutz Foss Architects
of Billings, Montana. Split Rock Studios is in charge of the interior exhibit design, and Oscar-winning filmmaker
Steven Okazaki is producing the introductory film that will be shown to Center visitors.
According to Douglas Nelson, fundraising chair and board vice-chair, the capital campaign is within “striking
distance” of its $5.3 million goal, with only $600,000 to go.
The effort has been bolstered by grants from the National Park Service Japanese America Confinement Sites
Program, Kresge Foundation, Ford Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation and other institutions as well as
donations from about 1,000 individuals and corporations. Nelson added that HMWF is simultaneously developing a
strategy for sustainability to ensure that its educational mission continues to benefit generations to come.
Last weekend was highlighted by the Foundation’s Aug. 20 Progress Celebration banquet. Wyoming dignitaries
and local supporters turned out to participate. Among them was Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis, who introduced
the Special Resource Study Bill for Heart Mountain recently passed by the House of Representatives. Former U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta reunited once again with U.S. Senator Alan K. Simpson (ret), whom
he met at Heart Mountain when the two attended a Boy Scout jamboree and became lifelong friends.
Consul General Kazuaki Kubo traveled from Denver to attend the gathering. Also in attendance were actor-
producer Ken Watanabe (Inception/The Last Samurai/Letters from Iwo Jima) and a film crew from Japan’s NHK
television network who are documenting Mineta’s life and early years at Heart Mountain.
Prof. Peter Simpson of the University of Wyoming led a spirited panel discussion focused on the new Center’s
future that included Karen Roles, a teacher from Wyoming’s Powell High School; Bill Collier, a recent George
Washington University graduate; film student Vanessa Yuille; and artist Jamie Poulsen.
Prof. Simpson is also arranging for the acquisition of historic Heart Mountain photographs by wartime lensman Jack
Richards. LaDonna Zall, HMWF Acting Curator, included the images in an artifact exhibit she organized in
conjunction with the weekend events. In addition, Split Rock Studios and HMWF Program Committee co-chairs Eric
Muller and Carolyn Takeshita previewed plans for the interior exhibit design. Muller is a former member of the
faculty of the University of Wyoming College of Law.
On Thursday, Nelson along with Bacon Sakatani led 29 hikers up the iconic mountain. It was Sakatani’s seventh
ascent. Among the hikers was Judge Raymond Uno (ret) of Salt Lake City and architect Allen Rapacz, president of
Schutz Foss.
Launch of the Foundation’s new web site, www.heartmountain.org was also announced at Saturday’s board
meeting. The site becomes a centralized source of grand opening information and HMWF news. During elections,
Peggy Fuson was named treasurer to replace Patricia Wolfe, while Richard G. Ewig became the new secretary,
replacing John Collins. Higuchi praised and thanked Reetz, Wolfe, and Collins for their many years of unstinting
commitment to the establishment of the Center and the HMWF mission.
PRESS RELEASE