Officials Detail Procedures for National Designation for Camp Amache

Amache Discussion at Granada Complex

Qualifying to become registered as a national park is a laborious pursuit. Proponents to have Camp Amache in Granada attain that status met with Tamara Delaplane, Project Manager and Landscape/Architect for the National Park Service and several NPS associates at the Granada Complex this past Tuesday, February 11^th.

Amache Discussion with Commissioners Cook and Grasmick-Foreground

Interested citizens, Prowers County Commissioners, Granada Trustees and John Hopper and members of the Amache Preservation Society were provided with information about the launch of a special resource study of the Granada Relocation Center, Camp Amache, used as a detention center for over 7,000 Japanese-American residents during World War II. Efforts have been underway for several years to upgrade the site beyond the current National Historic Landmark, designated by the Secretary of the Interior in 2006.

Four criteria have to be met for the study to advance for congressional action, Delaplane explained, adding that if any of the four fail to attain the ability to move forward, the study is concluded at that point with a negative finding and is given to Congress for any action it deems necessary or no action at all.

She discussed those four aspects with the audience, which provided their positives on National Significance, Suitability, Feasibility and Need for NPS Management. “Public input will be helpful to completing the study which will remain open until the end of May of this year,” she explained.

Hopper formed the Amache Preservation Society over 20 years ago and with work from numerous high school students, have helped preserve thousands of artifacts, making the Granada site the most information-intensive camp out of the ten which were formed during the Roosevelt administration at the start of WWII.

Delaplane provided a five-part comment card for the participants, leading them through some basic questions which will help provide guidance for the special study. The postage-free cards must be returned by May 31^st and are also available online at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/amache.

They range from, “What is your vision for preserving Amache? What types of activities do you want to see as a part of Amache’s future. Do you have ideas or concerns the NPS should be aware of in the study process? What objects, buildings, values and stories do you believe are most important and why? What do you think differentiates Amache from the other nine incarceration camps?

The Granada Trustees along with Mayor Glenn Otto did express concern about maintaining the town’s water rights should Amache attain national park status as several working wells are located on the original 10,000 acre facility. Amache was the only camp that was erected on privately owned property.

Cathy Garcia, U.S. Senator Cory Gardner’s representative from his Pueblo office, attended the meeting and shared a letter of support from Gardner on the project. Two years ago, he attended the annual pilgrimage held each May by descendants of Amache internees to offer his support.

By Russ Baldwin