The National Park Service has awarded an $851,826 grant to the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation to continue restoring the historic root cellar built to store produce grown by incarcerated Japanese Americans during World War II. 

The grant is part of the $3.2 million in funding announced Thursday by the service’s Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) program, which distributes grants to organizations that tell the history of the 125,000 Japanese Americans forced from the West Coast and into a series of prison camps around the country.

“The impact of the Heart Mountain agricultural program is the camp's most lasting legacy on the Wyoming landscape today, and the root cellar is the most powerful vehicle we have for shedding light on that legacy,” said the foundation’s Executive Director Aura Sunada Newlin.

Once open to the public, this restored root cellar will be the most evocative aspect of the site, and one of the nation’s most tangible monuments to Japanese American incarceration history, Newlin said.

The proposed project is a continuation of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation's efforts to restore the single remaining root cellar built by Japanese American incarcerees in 1943. Hidden beneath the wooden air vents that can be seen standing out of kilter near farmland where the Heart Mountain camp once stood, the cellar is a vast underground structure approximately 35 feet wide and 312 feet long, according to the Foundation. 

A local family donated two root cellars and the surrounding land to the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation.

“We are especially grateful to the Jolovich family, who donated the root cellar to the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation in 2013, the Park County Travel Council for providing additional grant funds, local archaeologist Chris Finley for advising on the project and conducting archaeological monitoring, and Cactus Productions for documenting the restoration process,” she said Friday in an interview with the Tribune.

The Heart Mountain Interpretive Center opened in 2011.

Phases of restoration

One cellar is collapsed but the other remains largely intact and is the only such cellar from any of the 10 camps that has the potential for restoration. Previous JACS grants supported an initial structural assessment and archaeological survey in 2014, one full season of stabilization and restoration work in 2018, and a second full season of work that is now wrapping up. An additional grant is supporting the production of a documentary film about the restoration process.

The most recent phase of restoration work was originally planned for 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic, related labor shortages, and contractor unavailability prevented the work from commencing until summer 2023. In the meantime, inflation and shortages led to sharply elevated costs for both labor and materials.

The cellar’s condition had also deteriorated slightly due to water seepage and settling earth, while previously undiscovered structural factors in the cellar itself made the 2023 phase more complicated than initially assessed.

The restoration work was extensive and extremely successful, focusing primarily on the cellar’s entryway. Work involved removing 1,800 cubic yards of dirt; conducting an asbestos assessment which came out clear; installing an extensive drainfield; fabricating and installing 16 custom concrete column bases; replacing rotted log columns, rafters, purlins and roof planking; and pouring concrete for wall foundations, an entry ramp and retaining walls, according to Foundation reports.

“While we have made dramatic progress, the cellar requires one more phase of restoration before visitors will be able to enter the space in accordance with building codes and ADA requirements,” Newlin said. “With our current momentum, we will be ready to hit the ground running in summer 2024.”

Weather and funding permitting, this upcoming phase of restoration could be completed by fall 2024 or spring 2025. The proposed work will allow the Foundation to safely open the restored portion of the cellar to the public.

“Our ultimate vision — beyond the scope of the present proposal — is to install a raised boardwalk and interpretive elements to enhance the visitor experience in this newly renovated viewing gallery, she said.

The eventual exhibit will allow visitors to experience the enormity of the space and the weight of what it represents.

Historical significance

Because of its historical importance, and because of its ability to connect contemporary audiences to the stories of incarcerated Japanese Americans, saving this cellar and sharing it with the world is one of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation's highest priorities. 

“The impact of the Heart Mountain agricultural program is the camp's most tangible legacy on the Wyoming landscape today, and the root cellar is the most powerful vehicle we have for shedding light on that legacy,” Newlin said.

Food security was an early and pressing challenge for Heart Mountain incarcerees, as false reports of food hoarding fueled political pressure to stop food support to the camp. Incarcerees from many walks of life helped to establish the farms at Heart Mountain, leading to an unprecedented success once known locally as "The Heart Mountain Miracle."

Women drove tractors, teenagers helped harvest, and engineers drew up plans for two cellars, each over 300 feet long, to store the produce from the fields. With access to a sawmill in the nearby National Forest, incarcerees cut the timbers used to construct the cellars. They transported the logs back to the camp, where workers used their single excavator and hand tools to dig the cellars that stored 2.1 million pounds of produce in 1943 and 5.1 million pounds in 1944. The project, in the end, was completed entirely with Japanese American labor.

Incarcerees also completed the irrigation canals that enabled them to cultivate nearly 2,000 acres of farmland. In turn, irrigation opened the possibility for local homesteaders to farm the area after the camp closed. Some of the tools and techniques used by incarcerated farmers to accommodate Wyoming’s short growing season have been adapted and are still in use by local farmers today.

“Unfortunately, this agricultural history is not as well known today as it once was. Opening the cellar for public access will help Park County residents and visitors worldwide to understand the intertwined nature of the camp's history with local history,” Newlin said. 

By the end of the proposed phase, the Foundation will have restored a substantial portion of the root cellar; stabilized more of the remaining roof structure to halt further collapse; enabled ADA-compliant public access to the north end of the root cellar, including an emergency fire exit as required by building codes; and installed the infrastructure for an eventual exhibit inside the cellar.

Heart Mountain has welcomed visitors from every state in the U.S. and six continents, and Newlin estimates that more than 16,000 people will visit the site in 2024. The facility hosts bus tours on a weekly basis during the summer. 

“One goal of restoring the root cellar is to offer an experience-oriented space that will appeal to younger visitors and families,” Newlin said. “We expect that the cellar, with its awe-inspiring size and craftsmanship, will draw more people specifically to see it. Entering the Heart Mountain cellar is a visceral experience involving all five senses: the change in temperature underground, the darkness, the smell and taste of dust, and the muffled sound of the outside world.”

Cactus Pro Films has been contracted to produce a 24-minute documentary about the cellar’s history and restoration. Funded by a separate JACS grant, the film will be screened at the Interpretive Center and made available to classrooms around the country. Moreover, it is expected to reach new audiences on regional PBS stations and nationwide streaming apps.

The Foundation hopes the restoration angle of this film will make it appealing to consumers who may not watch a strictly historical documentary, including viewers of restoration-focused reality TV shows. 

“Because the agriculture program at Heart Mountain involved nearly everyone in the camp, and because it was a point of pride in the Heart Mountain community, there is enthusiastic support for the root cellar project from former incarcerees and their descendants,” Newlin said.

Pilgrimage

The annual pilgrimage, scheduled for July 25 to 27, will feature the grand opening of the Mineta-Simpson Institute.

More than 400 invitees will attend the pilgrimage. There is a free to the public live performance of “Question 27, Question 28," a play that relates the incarceration experience from the perspective of four women.

The play features actor Tamlyn Tomita and local actor Maggie Simpson-Crabaugh. The program will start at 9 a.m., Friday, July 26, at Cody High School's Wynona Thompson Auditorium.