NEWS

New Asheville time capsule ready to go underground

Emily Patrick
epatrick@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE — How do you want to be remembered?

That question is difficult for a single person to answer, let alone an entire county of about 250,000 people.

But that's the question city of Asheville and Buncombe County officials were tasked with answering when they decided to create a time capsule to tell the story of the present day to residents of 2115 Asheville.

The project wasn't a whim: History compelled them to do it. An empty space at the base of the Vance Monument has waited to be filled since March, when archivists removed an 1897 time capsule. No one knew it was there until researchers found a newspaper article about it. (The new capsule won't be forgotten: The city created a plaque to mark its place and when it should be opened.)

So how did leaders answer the question, How does Asheville want to be remembered? With playbills and beer labels, bottle caps and law enforcement badges, tourist guides and photographs of Pack Square, to name a few items.

"The idea was to give a good snapshot of what the Asheville community is like today and to show that diversity and mix," said Debbie Ivester of the city's parks and recreation department. "None of us will be able to sit down and have the conversation with them (in 2115), so how will we be able to visually communicate what life was like?"

The city and county committed to 14 categories in which to source materials for the capsule, including business, industry, current events, food, heritage and arts, demographics, diversity and special events.

The governments convened a selection committee to talk more about the contents, which included key figures from businesses, nonprofits, school districts and public groups. They also asked citizens for input, and about 165 people filled out an online survey with suggestions for contents. Around 1,000 people signed their names on a role that will go into the box.

Charlie Glazener, executive director of community relations for Asheville City Schools, was one of the 16 people on the selection committee.

"When I first saw the box, it was a shock," he said. "It's like, 'It's that small?'"

The stainless steel box that will contain the time capsule was custom built to fit into the cavity at the base of Vance Monument. It's about the size of a shoebox, but it must contain the identity of the town.

Glazener said the committee thought it was particularly important to represent Pack Square and the way it has changed throughout history. Accordingly, archival and present-day photos of the hub for business, art and culture will go into the box, in addition to aerial images of downtown Asheville as a whole.

"That's the heart and soul of the community," he said. "I'd love to be there — and of course none of us can be — to see what they think of this."

The beer industry will be well represented in the box with labels and caps. Ivester said there are two reasons for this: One, the labels are bold and graphic and fun. Two, the beer industry is one of the defining characteristics of present day Asheville. She said the selection panel agreed on the importance of beer in the local economy.

"They saw that as a real highlight in industry and business and employment and making new jobs in the community," she said.

The arts are also represented. Posters and fliers relate movies at the Fine Arts Theatre and shows at The Grey Eagle, The Orange Peel, Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival, and Goombay. Postcards display work by local artists, including Cleaster Cotton. River Arts District graffiti is also represented.

Local publications, including a special section of the Citizen-Times created just for the capsule, will also have a place in the box.

Bumper stickers tout the importance of local food, and a pack of pole beans from Asheville-based Sow True Seeds highlights the importance of local agriculture and heirloom foods.

The time capsule also brings history into the future with pamphlets about Zebulon Vance, two-time governor of North Carolina and U.S. senator for whom the monument was named, and coins from the 1897 time capsule.

After all, that sense of history is what makes the whole time capsule enterprise a thrill for everyone involved, Ivester said.

"There's so many people who are interested in history, and now the fact that they have an opportunity to be part of history going forward is really of value to them," she said.

Attend the time capsule installation ceremony

Watch as Asheville's time capsule is lowered into the base of the Vance Monument, where it will remain until 2115.

A short ceremony with officials from the City of Asheville and Buncombe County will take place at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville. It coincides with Movies in the Park, so it's designed to be fun and family friendly.

The ceremony will also include a display of a duplicate set of 2115 time capsule contents, plus an exhibit of materials that came out of the 1897 time capsule that was recovered in March.

The duplicate set of time capsule contents will be on display in the lobby of City Hall Sept. 21 through Oct. 31.

When the exhibition ends, the second set of time capsule materials will remain in City Hall, archived for future generations, as a backup.

Black history emerges from 1897 time capsule

How are time capsules made? City finds out