Statement from Bicentennial Time Capsule Committee –

We had a fantastic turnout at Muse Park yesterday where we excavated the time capsule buried on October 13, 1972. More than 100 residents and dignitaries from the community attended the ceremony. We understand that many of you participated or had family who participated in the original ceremony and we were excited about reviewing the contents with you.

There were several unknowns with this project.

We knew where the time capsule was buried, however we did not know how deep it would be buried, how big the time capsule would be, how we would remove it and the condition of the contents inside.

Our original plan was to excavate the time capsule at 2 p.m. on June 1 and remove the contents in a climate-controlled environment later that afternoon where they would be documented and put on display at City Hall on Monday, June 6.

We had a few hiccups.

The first obstacle was that the capsule was much larger than expected at an estimated 6,500 lbs. The City of Jackson maintenance department was able to quickly pivot and use a different piece of heavy machinery equipment to lift the capsule.

Shortly after we loaded it, the trailer broke due to the weight. At this point, we decided to regroup the next day on Thursday, June 2.

This morning, we suspected water damage to the vault and had a hole drilled in the bottom. An estimated 200 gallons of water poured out.

We removed the top and officially opened the vault at 2:30 p.m. Unfortunately, contents did have severe water damage. We are going to let the contents dry out and re-evaluate on Friday, June 10.

Our time capsule committee has worked on this for more than a year and a half and we share in your disappointment.

Thank you for your understanding and patience as we figure out next steps.

(PHOTO: Time capsule – City of Jackson)