Manzanar National Historic Site Receives Funding from Centennial Initiative
Saturday, May 10, 2008

Superintendent Leatherman says the funds will be used to restore the Auditorium

MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
With new funding, the Manzanar historic site will have vegetation restored in an effort to recreate the experience of 60 years ago.

INDEPENDENCE.—Centennial funding combined with funds from the Friends of Manzanar will be used to restore historic vegetation at the Manzanar Auditorium which now serves as the site’s Interpre­tive Center.

Completion of the project will allow visitors who enter the camp auditorium through the historic west entrance to experience it in much the same way internees did over 60 years ago.

“We are excited to be working closely with the Friends of Manzanar on this site restoration project and to be included in the first round of funding for the Centennial Initiative. We will be working closely with the Friends on fund-raising for our next Centennial project, the reconstruction of barracks at the demonstration block, a much larger project which we hope will be funded in the next round of projects in 2009,” said Superintendent Tom Leatherman.

National Park Service Director Mary A. Bomar said, “With the nearly $25 mil­lion Congress has appropriated and nearly $27 million of matching commitments from our park partners, the Centennial Initiative today moves onto the landscape and into people’s lives. It’s a great day for the National Park Service and a great day for the Friends of Manzanar at Manzanar National Historic Site.”

The National Park Centennial Innitiative is a 10-year program to reinvigorate America’s national parks and prepare them for a second century. The initiative includes a focus on increased funding for park operations plus a President’s Challenge: up to $100 million a year in federal funds to match $100 million a year in philanthropic donations to the National Park Service.

“This is how we put our Centennial goals on the ground and it’s quite a beginning,” Bomar said. “We have 110 programs and projects involving more than 130 individual, public and non-profit partners benefitting 76 national parks in 38 states and the District of Columbia.”

The project at Manzanar will include replanting historic vegetation follow­ing guidelines provided in the park’s Cultural Landscape Report.

Work will take place in the late sum­mer and fall and will be completed in time for the Pilgrimage next year. The Friends of Manzanar, who are provid­ing half of the funds for this project, will also begin raising funds for the reconstruction of buildings in one of the residential blocks on the site. The preservation and restoration of build­ings and features provides visitors with opportunities to experience the living conditions of the internees and are critical in understanding these events in American history.

The National Park Centennial Initia­tive provides a framework for the Na­tional Park Service to engage the public in its mission. Its goals and strategies will embrace new constituents and gain support to ensure America’s national parks continue to thrive.