Cedar Rapids seeking suggestions for time capsule

City Hall wants suggestions on what to put into a time capsule that is destined for a spot in Cedar Rapids' new convention center.

The new time capsule is expected to resemble the time capsule that went into the arena next door during its construction in 1978, a time capsule that has been removed for now as part of the arena renovation.

City Council member Chuck Swore said on Wednesday that he favors putting the 1978 time capsule back in the renovated arena without opening it.

“It was just about 30 years ago,” said Swore, who was the chairman of the arena's oversight commission at the time of the arena's construction and was on hand when the first time capsule went into the building. “Nothing in it is really going to be historical. Let's put it back and let our grandkids open it up.”

The 1978 time capsule is a lightweight metal box, perhaps 18 inches square and soldered shut. Swore wasn't sure what was inside it.

John Frew, the project manager of the hotel and convention complex projects, said construction crews stumbled on the 1978 time capsule as they removed a dedication stone during the arena renovation. Frew has kept the time capsule under his desk since then, waiting for direction from the City Council.

At this week's council meeting, Swore announced that he wanted the public to help the council decide what should go in the new time capsule as it decides what to do with the old one.

For now, Frew said the plan is to insert both the old and new time capsules in place in about a month. The new one will go at a spot in the new convention center and the old one at a spot in the renovated arena next door. Each spot will be marked by a plaque to note that a time capsule is in place behind the plaque, Frew said.

The 1978 time capsule did not specify some date in the future when it should be opened, Swore said.

Mark Stoffer Hunter, a historian of Cedar Rapids, on Wednesday noted that America's first astronaut into space, Alan Shepard, was in Cedar Rapids in October 1978 as the keynote speaker to lay the dedication stone at the city's arena. Behind the stone was the time capsule.

Stoffer Hunter said he agreed with Swore that it made sense to keep the 1978 time capsule sealed for now.

At the same time, Stoffer Hunter noted that the city's library board in 2010 opened the 25-year-old time capsule at the flood-damaged library. The capsule's contents were wet, he said, as he recalled that one item of note was news that Cedar Rapids' downtown was one of the first cities to get a downtown McDonald's fast-food restaurant.