City Council Set For Final Vote On Historic Tuna Canyon Site

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A final vote is scheduled this week to designate Tuna Canyon as a historic site in commemoration of its history as a World War II-era internment camp.

KNX 1070's Claudia Peschiutta reports the City Council gave initial approval to the proposal on Friday.

Councilmember Richard Alarcon first proposed making at least one acre of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station site in Tujunga a historic-cultural landmark in October 2012.

The Tuna Canyon Detention Station - which is now located in an area known by local residents as the "Verdugo Hills Golf Course" - was used as a barbed wire enclosure with lights and armed troops to receive individuals considered "enemy aliens" who had been taken into custody by the FBI after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Nearly 1,500 Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants were incarcerated at Tuna Canyon in 1942 before being moved to more permanent detention facilities.

Christian ministers, Buddhist priests and bankers were also among those incarcerated at Tuna Canyon, according to a 1995 Los Angeles Times report.

Alarcon welcomed the opportunity to repair what he described as "a mistake that we made."

"I think the generations after World War II have a different approach than the original generation, which chose to be very quiet and silent about this, they were very embarrased by it," Alarcon said. "But the generations of today think it's something that we should remember."

A working group comprised of a developer planning a major housing project in the area, experts from the Japanese-American community and others will decide on exact details of plans for the site.

A final vote is set for Tuesday.