Time in a bottle – M.V. Beattie School

TIMe IN A BOTTLe

M.V. Beattie School cornerstone holds unexpected surprise

By Melanie Franner

When Dan Horochuk, capital projects coordinator for School District 83, took on the role of overseeing the new construction of the M.V. Beattie School in Enderby, B.C., little did he know that it would turn out to be a project with an interesting twist. But, as is fitting for a project that would be the last in his illustrious career, Horochuk took it all in stride and helped make a little history in the process. A NEW BEGINNING

Construction on the new M.V. Beattie School began in May 2010. The building was ready for occupancy in December 2011 and the official grand-opening took place in January 2012. It was an exciting event – made all the more interesting by the fact that demolition of the existing school had brought with it some unexpected news.

“The demolition contractor who was working on the site knew that we wanted to save the cornerstone of the old building and use it in the new building,” says Horochuk. “The crew took out the cornerstone very gingerly because they didn’t want to wreck it. That’s when they suspected that it wasn’t quite what it seemed.”

Carl Cooper, principal at the M.V. Beattie School, happened to be on-site at the time and was called over for his opinion.

“During the entire demolition phase, we had talked about how we wanted to honour the history of the school,” Cooper explains. “When the crew discovered the cornerstone, they came over to me and said they thought it was hollow and that it might be a time capsule. At that point, we started videotaping and taking photos. We were all shocked and surprised when we discovered that it was a time capsule. It was a great moment. We didn’t even realize the full extent of it then because there were 100-year-old newspapers in a sealed envelope.”

Those newspapers – one of which was dated April 19th, 1912 – covered the story of the sinking of the Titanic, which had just happened the day before. The time capsule also contained some business cards, a Victoria Day celebration flyer, some signed pieces of leather and other artifacts from the period.

“It had been part of our discussions to create our own time capsule for the new school,” says Cooper. “You can imagine our surprise in finding this one!”

A NEW TOMORROW

As part of the commemoration of the new – and old – school, each of the staff and 233 students at M.V. Beattie School (along with 31 students from Ashton Creek Elementary School, who began attending the new school in the autumn of 2012) got to sign a brick from the old school. Those bricks were then used by the mason to create a new time capsule that would include a few of the old newspapers along with some current artifacts, such as memory sticks, CDs and business cards.

“The students were all pretty excited to contribute to the new time capsule,” says Cooper.

And it turns out that the students aren’t the only ones excited about this turn of events.

“This was my last project before I retired,” says Horochuk. “I think it’s been scripted perfectly. You couldn’t ask for a better way to end my career.” b

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