City time capsule set to open Tuesday, Sept. 4
By Erin Perkins
A 25 year-old time capsule that was stored in the vault of the Grand Forks City Hall basement in August of 1987 will see the light of day during the regular city council meeting next week.
The public is invited into council chambers at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 4 to witness the opening and see what the box holds.
“There is no one left around who put this away so we have no idea what is in it,” said Grand Forks mayor Brian Taylor, who wasn’t living in Grand Forks at the time the capsule was created.
There is one person that remembers the time capsule the year of it’s creation: City of Grand Forks Chief Adminstrative Officer Lynne Burch.
Burch was a front desk clerk at the time Pat Gasston and Dawn Smith, event co-chairs of the 90th Year of Incorporation as a Municipality, brought the bankers box already sealed up and ready for storage at City Hall. Both Gasston and Smith have since moved away from our community.
She said they brought the sealed box in after the August long weekend and asked for it to be stored away for the next 25 years. The instructions written on the box is in Burch’s own hand.
“The writing on the box is definatley mine,” said Burch. “But I will be as excited as everyone else to see what’s inside … It will be interesting to see what they thought was important enough to put inside.”
“I’m looking forward to the insights we might get out of the time capsule by what people found meaningful then,” agreed Taylor.
After receiving the box, Burch placed it in a vault in the City Hall basement and there it has been ever since.
The contents of the box will be itemized as it is unpacked in the council chambers next week.
“I would assume the purpose of it is to be displayed to the public,” said Taylor, adding council hasn’t decided where that would be yet, but the Grand Forks and District Public Library may be a possibility.
As for other time capsules hidden away, Burch doesn’t know of any more.
