BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash — A new visitor center and plaza will be dedicated Sunday at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, marking the final major phase of the site’s more than two-decade development.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell is scheduled to join Japanese American internment survivors, their families, memorial leaders and National Park Service representatives for the dedication ceremony beginning at 12:30 p.m.
In 1942, 227 Japanese Americans living on Bainbridge Island were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to internment camps during World War II.
Congress passed legislation designating the memorial as a National Historical Site in 2008. Cantwell later helped secure more than $767,000 in National Park Service funding between 2022 and 2023 to help complete the visitor center.
Sunday’s ceremony will include remarks, a ribbon-cutting and dedication, followed by a public open house. The visitor center will remain open until 4 p.m. Sunday.
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