Time Capsule Uncovered at Old High School
October 5, 2015, Lansing Brothers Construction uncovered a time capsule while working on the demolition of the old high school on Wednesday, September 25th. The time capsule was discovered in a tin box that had been crushed as the demo continued on to the original portion of the building. It was located on the west side of the north end of the high school in an area just before the new north end addition started.
Items in the time capsule include newspaper clippings from the Bulletin Journal and the Independence Conservative dating back to 1952 and 1953, the school budget book from 1953-1954, a list of the school board members and some legal documents regarding a lawsuit that took place while the high school was being built.
Most of the newspaper clippings were about the construction of the new school. Each milestone of construction was published in the paper. Some of the article titles include: School Board Hopes to Get Blueprints Soon, Blue Prints Arrive on New Building, Bids for School Project Exceed Money Available, Specifications on School Gym are Completed and $115,240 Spent on New School Building.
Superintendent Russell Reiter states, “It was a wonderful surprise to find a time capsule of items as the old Jr/Sr High School was being torn down. We are looking forward to creating some type of display at our current Jr/Sr High School so everyone is able to view these historic artifacts.”
The finding of the time capsule comes at an exciting time for our district. After just going through the process of building a new school approximately 60 years after the prior building was built, it is interesting to compare the difference in the process, expense and of course the end result.
It is also interesting to find issues of the Bulletin Journal dating back to 1952 as we come up on the celebration of their 150th anniversary. To honor the Bulletin Journal’s 150th anniversary, they will be putting together a new time capsule with the help of some of our 8th grade students. Once all items are compiled, the time capsule will be placed at the new Jr./Sr. High School in the coming weeks.
For those interested in seeing all of the articles and documents that were found in the time capsule, they will be on display on main street at the Jr./Sr. High School.
For more information about the Independence Community School District, visit www.independence.k12.ia.us.
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