Three Time Capsules Unearthed at 5th Avenue School Site
Decatur Metro | July 28, 2010This picture recently appeared on the City Schools of Decatur’s website. But with little explanation.
Three time capsules at Fifth Avenue? What could it be? Old teacher-edition textbooks? Pirate gold? Barrels full of monkeys? Astronaut ice cream?
Luckily we have CSD’s Bruce Roaden to keep our feet on the ground and give us the real – and interesting! – story behind this pic.
Scott Russell, long time CSD employee and former teacher at 5th Avenue remembered that a time capsule had been created at 5th Ave. and was buried in a wall. Scott took our maintenance and construction folks to 5th Ave. and led them to the spot in the wall where it was “buried”. The directions were to open it in 2013. We took the time capsule out of the 5th Avenue wall (unopened) and will place it in the new 5th Avenue School.
Really, really cool. Thank goodness Scott Russell remembered. I think the 5th Avenue building is going to be completely razed for its renovation as a 4/5 Academy and the time capsule might have been destroyed accidentally by a backhoe. Scott’s a great guy and I think a good musician too if I’m remembering correctly. Can’t wait to find out in a few years what’s inside. (Maybe a note saying “Please don’t close this school!”).
In its rush to do things differently, CSD has to remember to stop and ask questions from the many experienced and caring staff that have been with CSD for years, way longer than most in Central Office. No reason to ruin underground lawn sprinkler systems and time capsules or park noisy buses in a neighborhood if you don’t have to.
When was the time capsule “buried”?
I’m still confused. What year were they buried? Why do we say “time capsule” in the singular when there are clearly three igloo coolers in the picture? I have to assume the coolers are the time capsules. Who are those people in the picture?
I’m irritated at the CSD website for having this picture up for several weeks without explanation. When are we going to get someone in the CSD who can create a useful, timely, informative website for us?
Thanks for following up DM!
Is there a free DM T-shirt for closest guess to the burial year? I’m going to try 1963, as 50 years seems a decent target for a time capsule. Would have gone with 1913, but don’t know when the place was built, and don’t think Igloo coolers where exactly big in 1913.
Scott has been teaching a long time in Decatur, but I think 50 years is probably a stretch! I’m voting for 25. This looks like late 80s attire (and eye wear).
Who is in the picture? I think I recognize the woman as someone working in Central Office. Is that Jamie Owen a.k.a. Coach O in the yellow shirt?
I agree, more details, please, CSD.
Oh, is that picture a “before” picture when the time capsule was buried? I thought it was an “after” photo taken recently when the igloos were unearthed. If this is a “before” picture, ignore my speculation below and I guess 1993. But I think it’s an “after” shot.
I was figuring the photo to be of the unearthing….. Maybe you’ll have a few unhappy people coming after you on the comment about them wearing late 80s clobber if the picture was only taken last week.
I think that is Coach O in the yellow shirt!
Having just seen Hot Tub Time Machine for the first time last week, I’m going to guess the Igloos were buried circa 1988.
You’ve got my vote. I was also thinking 25 years.
My mother’s circa 1980 Igloo Cooler recently developed cracks in the cooler lining, oozing a chemical gel into the inside of the cooler. If these coolers contain the time capsules, I think that a better container, more stable, should be used in order for the contents to be better preserved.
The age of Fifth Avenue, which I guess to be similar to Westchester, 1957-1962ish, the age of plastic Igloos (after 1960), and the Cold War love of time capsules (to survive the upcoming nuclear winter), make me think 1963.
But if Scott Russell personally remembers the time capsule “burying” as a teacher, not as a Decatur kindergartener, then 1963 is too early. If one assumes that it is gauche to bury a time capsule for less than 20 years, plus that most time capsule openings would be scheduled for periods of 25 years or multiples of 10 years, then the time capsule is probably scheduled to be opened at 40, 30, 25, or 20 years which translate to 1973, 1983, 1988, or 1993. The maroon color of the igloos doesn’t fit 1993. The plethora of material–3 whole igloos–makes me think crowded school which points to the tail end of the baby boomers in 1973 more than 1983-1988 when I think the birth rate was still dropping steeply and the Fifth Avenue area was not yet a popular choice for young families.
All to say that I guess 1973. But I wish I could shake those coolers to see whether the contents sound more like records, 8-track tapes, or Beta Max videotapes.
Very impressive reasoning, Karass..
You could be right about 1963 being a bit early, although apparently that was when Igloo released its first all plastic ice-chest:
http://www.igloocoolers.com/Igloo-Cooler-History
Oh, the things you learn on this site!
College Heights and Westchester are “sister” schools, built around the same time (1950s) during the baby boom. Fifth Ave is much older.
I went to first grade at Fifth Avenue in 1953 – my older sister went there five years before I did. I’m pretty sure this capsule is a little after our time there. But Fifth Avenue goes back a few years so mid 50′s or early sixties would be a good guess.
P.S. I would love a glance inside the old school before they take it down. I can still remember how tall those steps were for a first grader and I remember looking out those huge windows on a spring afternoon as a seventh grader. It was a great place to grow up. I’m glad you folks have found it. Use it well.
Wow! Tell us about it. Was Fifth Avenue an all-white segregated school then? When was it integrated? What was the neighborhood like? Middle class, single family homes? Working class? June Cleaverish? Donna Reidish?
Yes karass, we were all white – segregated then. I graduated from Decatur High in 1965 and the schools were still segredated. 1966 is the year the high school you know as Decatur High opened and it was interated. The black high school was Trinity High where the police station is now.
When I returned to Decatur 39 years later – all that remained of my high school was the “old gym and the stadium”. Now the only thing that remains in the “wall” that runs down the center of campus. And yes Decatur was a June Cleaverish and Donna Reidish place. Smitty, the Decatur police officer of our day would honk his horn – and wave his arm – to tell us to slow down or he would tell our parents. Our side of town “we knew as Eastlake – now know as Oakhurst” was the blue collar side of town. My dad was a transit worker and ran the streetcar that ran down the median of Oakview Road. I have a piece of the rail that was removed from that railway. Decatur was a special place then as it is now. Please treasure it.
Do you have any pictures of the streetcar line in the median of Oakview Rd? I’ve always wondered how it looked.
I put the time capsules in the wall in 1988. It was funded with a Mini Grant I got from the Dekalb Junior League. An article about it will soon be posted on Decatur News Online http://www.decaturnewsonline.com. Scott got a Mini Grant that year, too. I’m so glad he remembered about the capsules. I was going to call CSD this year about them. I hadn’t realized that Fifth Avenue was going to be razed. The project was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed doing it. I can’t wait to open the capsules.
Finally, a little more information: http://www.decaturnewsonline.com/news/article_29ab7de8-9eae-11df-95fd-001cc4c002e0.html