Video: Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza time-capsule ceremony

Just before the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza time capsule was covered in one last layer of sand, it was topped with cement and a few inscriptions – Loren and Clara are the 11- and 8-year-old Alki Elementary students who helped fill and seal it hours earlier at the Log House Museum. The burial process involved two wheelbarrows full of broken glass – you’ll see that after the capsule is placed in the ground, along the sidewalk just above the plaza (sorry for the jostling, everybody started crowding in closely):

The actual time-capsule burial came during a break in the celebration ceremony under a tent next to the statue itself. Keynote speaker, former West Seattleite astronaut Capt. Gregory Johnson, who was introduced by deputy mayor (and West Seattleite) Tim Ceis, who had the best line of the afternoon right after finishing his proclamation:

With humor and charisma, Johnson — after a few West Seattle reminiscences, including his time at Schmitz Park Elementary — told the story of how he became an astronaut:

We’ve got lots more to add (and we’re still adding to our earlier report on the filling/sealing of the capsule), but those were the highlights. Those in attendance also included leaders and members of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, City Council president Richard Conlin and West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, as well as Alki Community Council president Jule Sugarman. The bricks atop the capsule are sand-set for drainage, Parks project manager Patrick Donohue explained; the capsule is scheduled to be removed and opened in 2059.

7 Replies to "Video: Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza time-capsule ceremony"

  • Cathy September 19, 2009 (7:40 pm)

    Hope they finally got the mic working. It was so hard to hear that I finally gave up after the actual capsule was placed. It was too bad they had a beautiful singer by the name of Mary Krainick start the ceremony but only a few could hear her. I hope her real job is signing… a real treat. Anyway, after that I just went and drooled at all the great barbeque cooking….

  • WS resident September 19, 2009 (8:06 pm)

    Yeah and Congrats to WSHS ’72 Alum Greg Johnson!
    He’s here for a week of activities and events including visiting Kenmore Air, Oak Harbor, the Museum of Flight on 9/23 @ 7:30 p.m., West Seattle High School Foundation Breakfast on 9/24 at 7:30 a.m. and then on to Schmitz Park Elementary School. Thanks Greg!
    (agreed – the mic problem made it hard to hear what was going on with the noise of the crowd talking (The Seafair guys) and the seagulls screeching.)

  • WSB September 19, 2009 (9:15 pm)

    We’ll add this to the story when we’re done adding visuals but for anyone interested, we’ve uploaded the program from today’s event, which includes the full list of what went into the time capsule:
    https://westseattleblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/whatsintimecapsule.pdf

  • Alan September 20, 2009 (8:17 am)

    Does the Parks department or anyone else have a list of how many ‘official’ time capsules are in the city? How many has the parks dept. been involved with?

  • dawsonct September 20, 2009 (7:15 pm)

    Why the glass? My guess is to facilitate drainage, but I am unfamiliar with time-capsule burial procedures.

  • WS Dog Lover September 20, 2009 (11:01 pm)

    Pretty awesome! I hope I can see it when its dug up in 50 years! That will be September, 2059! YAY!

  • Alan September 26, 2009 (8:47 pm)

    Dawsonct: yes, the glass aids drainage.

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