Artifacts of the past can come with good and bad. In the case of the Rockmart City Council on Tuesday evening, the memories were pleasant, but they came with an awful smell.
Mayor Sherman Ross was joined by volunteers who worked more than 20 years ago at the Nathan Dean Sports Complex in Rockmart when they built the wooden playground structure that was there up until recent months.
When the structure was finally knocked down, the plaque covering a PVC pipe time capsule was pulled up and the time capsule planted during a ceremony opening the playground after a weeklong event was uncovered.
What was inside was a mixed bag.
The capsule at some point was either damaged or sprung a leak, because the paper within that included plans for the playground, a list of volunteers who participated in the build, and other items (including campaign literature for Nathan Dean) were deteriorating and slightly waterlogged.
One other item was an essay left inside by Nicholas Helms:
Having trouble reading that? No worries, it’s transcribed here. We have another transcribed item here as well, see below:
Additionally, a dollar coin, a former Georgia state flag and a t-shirt handed out at the time to volunteers was stowed inside the time capsule that remained underground since the playground was completed in the final days of March and early April 2000.
The only real thing that turned out to be unpleasant is the invasion of moisture also brought with it an awful smell that lingered after the items were unsealed around the council members, and in the conference room where the time capsule was moved temporarily on Tuesday evening.
Decades later with the items unearthed, the council meeting gave members and the volunteers who took part in the original build a chance to remember when the community came together for a singular purpose of ensuring local youth had a place to play that was safe and unique to Rockmart.
Among the volunteers who explored some of the items during the January council meeting included Kristy Hughes and her husband Dr. Todd Hughes, Sandy Norman, Cathy Matthews, and Sonny York.
Many groups and hundreds of volunteers took part in the effort to build the playspace structure from March 29 through April 2, 2000 in rain or shine conditions. A plaque dedicating those efforts was also installed at the playground.
The city previously closed the wooden play structure in 2022 after growing safety concerns, and finally tore it down in recent months after funding through grants has become available for a replacement, though not all the funds.
The new playground effort is underway now, with an opportunity for citizens to take part in choosing equipment that will be used for the replacement. Back in October, the city accepted a new round of grant money to help with the construction.
The city is expected in the coming weeks to provide additional information about their plans for public participation in the process as tentative layouts for the replacement are finalized.
Items from inside the time capsule were taken to be placed inside of a shadow box in order for it to be preserved for future generations to enjoy.
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