A large crowd of Pekinites took time this morning to recall and reflect upon the past 48 years of Pekin’s and national history at the 1976 time capsule opening ceremony held at 9 a.m. at the Pekin Municipal Building. The standing-room-only event was held in City Council Chambers, but an overflow crowd also filled the lobby of Pekin’s city hall, where the contents of the 1976 time capsule were displayed along with a selection of the 1884 and 1951 city hall time capsules.
At the ceremony presided over by City Manager John Dossey, five letters enclosed in the time capsule and addressed to today’s Pekinites were read to the assembled crowd.
The time capsule had been prepared as a part of Pekin’s celebration of America’s Bicentennial in 1976 with instructions to open the time capsule and distribute its contents on the Fourth of July in 2024, during the celebration of Pekin’s own bicentennial. It was originally buried 1 Jan. 1977 outside the old city hall at 400 Margaret St. Twenty-two years ago, the time capsule was moved to a spot in front of the city’s new Municipal Building. The city unearthed the time capsule on May 31 in advance of today’s ceremony. Most of the time capsule’s contents were found to be in a good state of preservation, but moisture had seeped in over the years and damaged some of the contents.
Dossey told the attendees that the city is planning a new time capsule this year, to be opened in 2074 during the city’s celebration of its 250th anniversary. Due to the risk of moisture damage that comes with buried time capsules, Dossey said the new time capsule probably will not be buried. He said it will probably be in August that the city will announce the planning details for the 2024 time capsule.
Following is a photo gallery from the time capsule opening ceremony.
Below are various items from the 1884 and 1951 time capsules that are currently displayed in the Pekin Municipal Building lobby.
