It was the year of the Tiananmen Square protests in China, the Berlin Wall came down, Hangin’ Tough by New Kids on the Block topped the music charts and both The Simpsons and Seinfeld debuted on television.
A time capsule from 1989 that was dug up at Memorial Square a few months ago to accommodate the massive redevelopment of the downtown Barrie landmark was reburied on Monday and shouldn’t be seen again until 2089.
Nobody even peeked inside the heavy metal box, which measures two feet square by one foot deep, while it waited to be reinterred to continue its century-long journey.
Bob Lehman, who was head of the Downtown BIA when the capsule was initially buried in 1989 and was on hand Monday alongside his son, Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman, said he recalls it containing a copy of the former Barrie Examiner as well as objects from local schools.
He also recalled the day the capsule was placed.
“It was classic: too many people talking, too many speakers,” Lehman joked of the original 1989 ceremony, which included around 10 dignitaries. “It was a beautiful afternoon, I remember that.”
But there was little fanfare and the weather was decidedly different on an overcast Monday afternoon as workers toiled away on the hole to resituate the capsule. It will now be located closer to the Meridian Place stage and be marked with the original date stone, which reads ‘City of Barrie, October 1989, October 2089, Facts for Future’.
Mayor Lehman remarked that he was about the same age as his father when the original capsule was placed in the ground.
“That’s a little freaky,” his father quipped back.
Fast-forward 29 years and the downtown square is getting a complete overhaul, which included relocating the cenotaph to the foot of Owen Street.
In addition to the Lehmans, also on hand for Monday’s time-capsule burial were Downtown BIA chairman Wayne Hay, Downtown BIA managing director Craig Stevens and City of Barrie manager of corporate facility services Gus Diamantopoulos, who was the project manager on the Memorial Square/Meridian Place redevelopment.
The project came in at its $3.8-million budget, which has been shared three ways between the city, Downtown BIA as well as BIA fundraising.
One of the more interesting aspects of the project, which began last June, is the discreet inclusion of LED lights in certain places, such as under the stairs and benches as well as around the stage, that can be turned specific colours. For example, the square could be red for Canada Day, or red and green around Christmas.
“There are lots of different things you could do for different celebrations. Just about anything, really,” the mayor said, adding the lighting could also be used to mark world events, such as the red, white and blue of France’s flag following the Paris attacks, for example.
Another intriguing aspect is a design in the concrete walkway to mark the footsteps that would have been taken to begin the Nine Mile Portage to Fort Willow in modern-day Springwater Township.
Diamantopoulos said old maps were consulted and the footsteps mark where the shoreline would’ve been at the time.
One of the oldest known European records of the route appears on an Italian map from 1688 labelled as Portage de dix Lieuel, according to the city’s website. The trail came to be known as the Nine Mile Portage by the British military, which used it strategically during the War of 1812. After the war, use continued until the first roads and the railway were established. The old portage then fell into disuse and eventually the land was sold to settlers as concessions were developed.
Stevens said it’s been refreshing to see the project take shape, beginning with conceptual drawings to actually standing on the site.
“The elevation is amazing,” he said from the lower steps near the Meridian Place stage. “It’s better than what we even expected.”
Stevens said the plan is to have the construction barricades removed in late June to make it open to the public, followed by an official grand opening June 29.
