MARQUETTE, Mich, (WZMQ) – Though it may not seem like a long time, a lot has changed in the last 25 years.
On Thursday the Marquette Regional History Center celebrated those changes by opening a time capsule from 1999.
Marquette City Manager Karen Kovacs was there to give some highlights on all the things that are different between then and now.
“A lot of things were different. Cars were in their second year of being required to have airbags, that is a given now with every single car. Dot com was a ballooning bubble that had not burst yet, but here were are with that. Most people didn’t have one of these,” said Kovacs, holding up her smartphone.
The capsule itself was huge, the lid alone weighed a few hundred pounds.
Inside it had mostly things like magazines and polaroid pictures, but there were some unique items like Legos, and a laminated book from Marquette elementary schoolers, which Mayor Sally Davis said was her favorite part.
For me it was a lot of fun to look at the information that the elementary schools put in,” said Davis. “And if you think about those elementary school students with the age they were then, and now 25 years later they’re looking at what they were like in elementary school.”
Davis also helped remember Marquette’s history by honoring six past mayors who showed up to celebrate.
“There’s a lot of mayors that have come before me,” said Davis. “I think out city is what it is because of the people that have made the decisions for the future, but made them several times in the past.”
Now that the items are out of the capsule, they will remain on display for the next few months as Marquette and the History Center gather ideas and items for the next capsule, which they will bury for the next 25 years till it’s time to open it again.
