Vandals have broken into the former hospital at the Heart Mountain National Historic Landmark, causing thousands of dollars of damage and ruining some of the original features of the WWII relic. At the same time, the federally owned property is nearing a sale to the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation (HMWF), which hopes to rejuvenate the structures and display the resources properly to the public.

“These structures are deeply personal to those of us whose families were imprisoned here during World War II,” says executive director Aura Sunada Newlin, who is a descendant of Heart Mountain incarcerees. “Our board member Kathy Saito Yuille was born in that hospital. Board Chair Shirley Ann Higuchi’s mother had her appendix removed in that hospital. Board member Sam Mihara’s grandfather died in that hospital due to negligent care.”

Over the past two months, the historic hospital at the Heart Mountain National Historic Landmark has experienced four separate incidents of vandalism, most recently on Nov. 14, when intruders broke a window and tore away protective plywood from three doors, causing harm to the original historic structures. Earlier incidents have included graffiti as well as damage to exterior board siding, doors and windows.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, who has been working closely with the agencies involved and the Foundation to finish the purchase of the property from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), was appalled by the vandalism of the historic site.

“I am outraged by the repeated acts of vandalism targeting Heart Mountain. I am working with the administration to swiftly protect this historic site and I hope those responsible are held accountable for their despicable actions,” Lummis said Wednesday.

Lyle Myler, the Bureau of Reclamation’s area land manager — the BOR manages the property for the BLM — said the agency wants to see the land in the Foundation’s hands.

“Our ultimate goal is to provide that land and those structures to the Wyoming Heart Mountain Foundation so they can manage it,” he said. “Who is better equipped to care for those structures?”

Selling the land has been in the works since 2015. However, the Foundation has leased the land, including the walking tour adjacent to the former hospital buildings, since 2007. The walking tour was the first installation of what has become the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, the root cellar and the Mineta-Simpson Institute. Last year the center became a Smithsonian affiliated organization.

While they haven’t started renovating the original historic buildings, the Foundation has paid to have the smoke stack repaired in an effort to keep it from falling and potentially damaging the hospital building if it fell. Sol Martin’s Zoula Masonry Services, which is currently contracted to renovate the root cellar for public display, did the work on the chimney at the hospital.

Myler also said there have been other acts of vandalism at other properties they manage, including at dams and reservoirs.

Not malicious?

HMWF Director of Operations Logan Christie said that due to other reports of vandalism in area outbuildings, the Foundation doesn’t think these illegal acts are targeting the Foundation and interpretive center directly.

“I don’t think the intent is malicious in terms of it being focused at the Foundation,” he said.

Graffiti sprayed on the buildings are more of a tag than a message of hate to the institution or its patrons.

“The livelihood of the buildings in that property are just so important to us, and now to have these sorts of incidents taking place, we kind of feel a little bit handcuffed and helpless to figure out how to stop it,” Christie said.

The Foundation has reported each incident to the Park County Sheriff’s Office, which has promised to increase its monitoring of the area. The Foundation also installed security cameras at the site before the Nov. 14 incident. Members and staff are also sending out a plea to local community members to help “dissuade youth from desecrating what, for us, is a sacred site,” Newlin said.

The federally owned buildings were most recently damaged late last Thursday night, when intruders broke a window and tore away protective plywood from three doors, causing harm to the original historic door frames. Along with the earlier incidents, Ray Locker, Heart Mountain Foundation board member, said damage is estimated under $5,000.

Bureaucracy

Preservation of the hospital buildings is a top priority of the Foundation. Once ownership of the hospital grounds is transferred to Heart Mountain, the Foundation intends to improve security around the buildings to protect from further damage.

“The problem is, we don’t own those buildings,” Locker said. “And, you know, the process grinds slowly.”

The Foundation ultimately plans to turn the buildings into a display documenting where 14,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated between 1942 and 1945.

Myler explained that the land in which BOR has surface responsibility was withdrawn from the public land status long ago. Now the process is to identify that the land is no longer needed for project purposes, then that identification goes to the BLM. The BOR works with the Bureau of Land Management to help with the Recreation and Public Purposes Act which makes it possible to transfer those lands to an entity, like the Foundation, that can manage the property for public access and historic preservation purposes.

Both Locker and Christie said working with the local representatives for the BOR and BLM, as well as Wyoming Sens. Lummis and John Barrasso and the Park County Sheriff’s Office has been productive and pleasant.

Anyone with information about these acts of vandalism is urged to contact the Park County Sheriff’s Office.