ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Superintendent of Lynn Schools, Dr. Catherine Latham, reaches for an item from the 1923 time capsule that was found in the old Marshall school as school principal Molly Cohen looks on.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — The public got a glimpse into the 1920s at the Thurgood Marshall Middle School.
The $92 million school opened earlier this year, but the project’s completion was celebrated on Thursday with the opening of a time capsule that was buried at the old school building 93 years ago.
Officials called the new facility the future of Lynn and were reminded of the school’s past by a 1923 school manual and other recovered items.
There was a city auditor’s sheet dated Nov. 30, 1923 reflecting $1.5 million in assets and $1.5 million in liability; a 1920 aerial photograph of the city; and newspaper clippings from The Evening Item and the Boston Herald.
Superintendent Catherine Latham said she had heard the photograph was included in the small copper box, but was skeptical that it would remain intact.
“I had no hope of it surviving, but it survived,” she said.
Marshall students agreed.
“The coolest part was the picture of the city from the airplane,” said Robby Pojoy, 13. “I thought it would have been erased and would just be a piece of paper. It was all there.”
Makayla Abels-McGuiness, 12, said it was interesting to see newspaper clips and the photograph.
“That was really cool,” Abels-McGuiness said. “It would be cool to put stuff in a time capsule.”
A ceremonial ribbon cutting followed the time capsule reveal.
At more than 181,000 square feet, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said the structure is one of the largest municipal buildings ever built in the city of Lynn.
Latham noted that the project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget. The school has features intended to keep students interested in their classes and reduce the dropout rate, she said.
“We need to provide students with a reason to want to go to school with subjects that address individual talents,” Latham said. “In this school, we will do just that.”
In addition to classroom basics, the school is equipped with a cooking room with six kitchens, a sewing room, woodshop, drafting room, instrumental music room, a life skills suite and a TV production room with state-of-the-art equipment, she said.
Principal Molly Cohen described the feeling of being in the new building on a typical school day. Children play in the gym during morning recess and gather in the lunchroom, which is filled with sunlight, she said.
“The staff and I feel privileged to help students learn and grow in this new building,” she said.
State Sen. Thomas McGee (D-Lynn) said providing children with a new school is transformative for a community.
“It shows the students that we really care about them and that their future is our future,” he said.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.