060999 Valley Times

Reported in The Valley Times
June 9, 1999

Photos by JIM KETSDEVER / TIMES
LIVERMORE EMPLOYEE Steve Durflinger Sr. digs for the time capsule Tuesday in Centennial Park.

Livermore may get help
from Navy in capsule hunt

Volunteers offer to search as city's second attempt to find 25-year-old time tube could be its last

By Sam Richards
TIMES STAFF WRITER

LIVERMORE --- Part of Livermore's history may be lost to history --- that, and a well-aged bottle of petite sirah.

"A white wine wouldn't last that length of time, but a red ... the temperature underground should have been perfect," said Jim Concannon of Concannon Vineyards, who placed a magnum of the fine red wine in a time capsule in 1974 and had hoped to sample it when the capsule was dug up last week.

But another hunt for Livermore's elusive time capsule came up empty Tuesday.

As was the case June 2, efforts to find the capsule beneath the grass of Centennial Park on Tuesday were fruitless. City crews gave up after about an hour of digging about a half-dozen holes near the memorial totem pole, looking for the 18-inch-long capsule resembling an old milk can.

This likely was the last attempt, on the city's dime at least, to find the capsule and its contents of wine, bumper stickers, a book and likely some other things that, like the capsule's location, no one seems to remember.

"I'm not coming out every Tuesday to dig up the park," said Mike Miller, the city's public services director.

But the search for history may repeat itself.

A Navy environmental unit based in Vallejo wants to use a geometric imaging system, usually reserved for locating unexploded ordnance buried underground, to find the time capsule.

"It's a little safer than looking for bombs," said Victor George, who is with the West Coast Naval Environmental Detachment based at Mare Island.

The devices find buried objects by measuring the magnetic fields around them, then produce video images of the objects.

George said he hopes to talk to Livermore officials today. If city officals are game, George hopes to have one of his staff at the park by this weekend.

He believes the work could be done at no cost to the city.

MAYOR CATHIE BROWN handles rusty metal
found in the second attempt to find the tube.

If the Navy cannot help, then an army of people with metal detectors may descend on Centennial Park.

"If it's there, we could find it," said Jack Isacoff of Pleasant Hill, a member of the Mount Diablo Metal Detecting Club, who was helping search Tuesday "We could get 10 or 15 people, rope this park off in 15-by-15 foot sections and comb this whole thing.

City public services workers, with the help of a metal detector that could find objects buried as deep as 5 feet, explored several spots on three sides of the totem pole. When the metal detector shrieked, city crews jammed long metal probes into the ground. Sod was pulled back like the top of a sardine can. Holes were dug.

All city Public Services Department shovels were able to unearth was a Duracell battery, some rock fragments and what appeared to be part of an old shovel,

The capsule originally was supposed to be opened in 2024, 50 years after its contents were assembled. But local historians, preparing a new time capsule, were afraid ground water might have leaked into the 1974 capsule, hurting its contents or causing it to disintegrate. That could be one reason metal detectors haven't found it.

"I think whatever it is may not have much detectable metal in it," said Steve Durflinger Sr., one city worker who looked for it Tuesday.

April 2, 2000


Reported in The Valley Times June 9, 1999
Photos by JIM KETSDEVER / TIMES LIVERMORE EMPLOYEE Steve Durflinger Sr. digs for the time capsule Tuesday in Centennial Park. Livermore may get help from Navy in capsule hunt


Volunteers offer to search as city's second attempt to find 25-year-old time tube could be its last By Sam Richards TIMES STAFF WRITER LIVERMORE --- Part of Livermore's history may be lost to history --- that, and a well-aged bottle of petite sirah. "A white wine wouldn't last that length of time, but a red ... the temperature underground should have been perfect," said Jim Concannon of Concannon Vineyards, who placed a magnum of the fine red wine in a time capsule in 1974 and had hoped to sample it when the capsule was dug up last week. But another hunt for Livermore's elusive time capsule came up empty Tuesday. As was the case June 2, efforts to find the capsule beneath the grass of Centennial Park on Tuesday were fruitless. City crews gave up after about an hour of digging about a half-dozen holes near the memorial totem pole, looking for the 18-inch-long capsule resembling an old milk can. This likely was the last attempt, on the city's dime at least, to find the capsule and its contents of wine, bumper stickers, a book and likely some other things that, like the capsule's location, no one seems to remember. "I'm not coming out every Tuesday to dig up the park," said Mike Miller, the city's public services director. But the search for history may repeat itself. A Navy environmental unit based in Vallejo wants to use a geometric imaging system, usually reserved for locating unexploded ordnance buried underground, to find the time capsule. "It's a little safer than looking for bombs," said Victor George, who is with the West Coast Naval Environmental Detachment based at Mare Island. The devices find buried objects by measuring the magnetic fields around them, then produce video images of the objects. George said he hopes to talk to Livermore officials today. If city officals are game, George hopes to have one of his staff at the park by this weekend. He believes the work could be done at no cost to the city.	MAYOR CATHIE BROWN handles rusty metal found in the second attempt to find the tube. If the Navy cannot help, then an army of people with metal detectors may descend on Centennial Park. "If it's there, we could find it," said Jack Isacoff of Pleasant Hill, a member of the Mount Diablo Metal Detecting Club, who was helping search Tuesday "We could get 10 or 15 people, rope this park off in 15-by-15 foot sections and comb this whole thing. City public services workers, with the help of a metal detector that could find objects buried as deep as 5 feet, explored several spots on three sides of the totem pole. When the metal detector shrieked, city crews jammed long metal probes into the ground. Sod was pulled back like the top of a sardine can. Holes were dug. All city Public Services Department shovels were able to unearth was a Duracell battery, some rock fragments and what appeared to be part of an old shovel, The capsule originally was supposed to be opened in 2024, 50 years after its contents were assembled. But local historians, preparing a new time capsule, were afraid ground water might have leaked into the 1974 capsule, hurting its contents or causing it to disintegrate. That could be one reason metal detectors haven't found it. "I think whatever it is may not have much detectable metal in it," said Steve Durflinger Sr., one city worker who looked for it Tuesday.
April 2, 2000