Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette A time capsule buried in a vacant lot adjacent to the Calumet Theater in 1975 was exhumed last week due to a development project. Currently stored in the vault in the Village Hall, the question now is what to do with it.

CALUMET – A time capsule buried in August 1975 during the Village of Calumet’s 100th anniversary celebration was unearthed last week and is currently in the Village Hall’s vault. The capsule was buried in the vacant lot adjacent to the Calumet Theatre. Village Manager Megan Haselden said the capsule was exhumed because the lot is being developed into a new green space. “That is being done on two different lots,” said Haselden, “one on Fifth Street and one directly next to the theater.”

In addition to a brass plaque marking the location of the time capsule, the village also had a historic bell on display on the lot, a large Calumet Theatre sign and a sign dedicated to Calumet’s sister city, Camborne, in Cornwall.

“All of those had to be dug out for the construction that’s going on, which on that lot isn’t necessarily much,” Haselden said. “I mean, we’re going to put in a couple of light poles, a couple of gabion walls; a new sidewalk will run along the side of the theater building, but we knew at the very least that we were going to have to dig up the plaque marking the location of the time capsule, and so if we left the capsule there, we might never find it again.”

The CLK Chamber of Commerce was in charge of burying the capsule and placing the brass plaque marking its location. Haselden said the village is not planning to open the capsule during the village’s 150th celebration. What she hoping for is some clear instructions on when the capsule was supposed to be opened.

“For example, a time capsule for the Calumet Theatre that was dedicated for their 100th anniversary in the year 2000, she said. “That time capsule has information directly on it: ‘Do not open for the next 100 years.’ Our time capsule doesn’t have that same information.”

Haselsden said she is currently assuming the CKL Chamber intended the capsule to be opened in 2075, not 2025.

“I’m sure that that documentation is somewhere, but I haven’t been able to place it yet,” she said. “I’m going to have some National Park professionals take a look at it to see if they feel there is any reason to open it early and maybe re-fit everything into a more weather-proof time capsule. In 1975 they did not have that.”

The green space project is adding features like streetlights, gabion walls, a bandshell for live music, accessible pathways, and seating. and accessible pathways, with a portion near the Calumet Theatre remaining grass. The green space will be a public gathering place, potentially hosting events like the Calumet farmers’ market