Those with family ties to Seward time capsule can’t wait to open 50 years of memories

SEWARD, Neb (KLKN) — The city of Seward houses the world’s largest time capsule, which in turn houses memories connecting the past to the present.

Lifelong businessman and Seward advocate Harold Davisson, the brainpower behind the time capsule, created a vision for the future that stemmed from his love for the city.

“My dad had four grandchildren when he decided to do the time capsule,” said his daughter, Trish Johnson. “He had a series of health events and felt he wouldn’t be around to see them, and they wouldn’t remember him, his life, his love for Seward.”

The capsule was dedicated on July 4, 1975, and will be reopened ahead of this year’s Fourth of July celebration.

SEE ALSO: Seward set to open world’s largest time capsule after 50 years

Johnson is keeping her father’s legacy alive with some serious heavy lifting.

Last year, she organized a trial run of the highly anticipated capsule unsealing by opening up the pyramid on top of the capsule.

It wasn’t as seamless as they hoped.

“It looked pretty rough,” she said. “It took six people four to five hours to haul all that cruddy stuff.”

Johnson said it was a learning experience that prepared them for this week.

“Just knowing what they took, they went out and found a larger, better-equipped firm with a larger drill to drill into that thing,” she said of the construction team.

The plan of action for opening the time capsule is to first remove the pyramid on Wednesday. If the removal is successful, the team will begin to open the capsule shortly after that.

The capsule was made with concrete and reinforced with steel rods, then covered with dirt and grass. Many presume the items have eroded over time.

Karen O’Dell’s late husband, Dick O’Dell, built almost every layer of the capsule and pyramid.

“Mr. Davisson approached him with a pencil sketch and said, ‘Can you build the world’s largest time capsule?'” she said.

After that, the rest was truly history.

O’Dell and her grown children are anxiously waiting to see their frozen memories.

“My mother, she was interested, so she put in some letters to my children, and now they’re eager to find those,” O’Dell said.

She hopes even after the capsule is open, it “continues to put Seward on the map.”