Wednesday, September 18, 2024
By Emily Conroy
A time capsule buried at the 100th anniversary of the city of Manawa celebration was recently dug up and found to be damaged.
Ken Groholski, one of the people helping to plan the 150th celebration was also present at the centennial celebration. He said the contents of the time capsule are water damaged, with very little of the contents salvageable.
The time capsule was buried in 1974 and contained various items from that time period. It was not to be opened until the 150th celebration, at which time the items would be revealed and new items would be put in.
The expected date of the opening of the time capsule was set for Aug. 3.
The planter at Triangle Park was placed there in order to house the time capsule, with the Bronc Buster statue being placed at the park in 2000.
The time capsule itself was made of steel and fiberglass, there was an aluminum cover and cement was poured over that to prevent any kind of damage to the box. However, somehow a stake managed to make its way through.
“It is very disappointing,” Groholski said of the damage. “We were so looking forward to opening it with everyone.”
As of right now, former and current city employees or the members on the sesquicentennial don’t know what exactly happened to the capsule.
“I don’t know why they didn’t stop, it had to be tremendously hard to do,” Groholski said.
He said the majority of the items were completely destroyed, while a few of the items they may be able to salvage.
Of the items destroyed was a high school year book, registration of who was in attendance at the 100th city anniversary, as well as buttons, newspapers and advertisements.
There was no sign marking where the time capsule was, Groholski said, outside of a small area outside the capsule that said not to open for 50 years.
Groholski said he is trying to dry the newspapers out the best he can ahead of the celebratory weekend Aug. 1-3.
