ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt Jr., left, gives the second time capsule to Jason Peck, right, so that it can be stored in the base of the statue in Peabody Square.
By Adam Swift
PEABODY — Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. has already scaled the city’s political ladder.
On Monday, the mayor climbed a literal one when he placed a time capsule inside the base of the relocated Civil War Monument in Peabody Square.
The capsule coincides with the relocation of the monument as part of the downtown road reconstruction program.
In June, city officials opened two time capsules that had been removed from the monument as workers prepared to move it 30 feet closer to the courthouse.
Items from those 1881 and 1989 capsules are now joined by a host of mementos from this year.
“We are starting a new 2016 time capsule to celebrate the city’s history, and this is a very important point in our downtown revitalization efforts,” said Bettencourt. “We are at the tail end of the project.”
The Peabody Square project, including new traffic lights and a reconfigured intersection at Lowell, Main, Central, and Foster streets, should completed soon.
“By Labor Day, we should have the paving done, with the landscaping and some finish work down in the fall,” he said. “The heavy work will be done and in place for the International Festival on Sept. 11 and the Centennial Parade on Oct. 2.”
The project is one of many markers of modern city history included in the time capsule. Schematics for the work are among the maps from 1989 and 1881 that were tucked back into the monument. But Bettencourt said the city’s history is about more than maps and construction projects.
“We wanted to include a lot of school items and newspaper articles that show the work that has been done at the schools,” he said.
Among the souvenirs of 2016 are a Peabody Tanner hat, a Bettencourt for mayor campaign sticker, which is heavily outnumbered by the Torigian for mayor paraphernalia included in the 1989 time capsule, photos and newspapers from former state Sen. Fred Berry, Brooksby Farm newsletters and numerous items honoring the city’s veterans.
“We’ve had a lot of fun over the past couple of weeks in the city coming up with ideas for the time capsule,” Bettencourt said. “The time capsule really celebrates all the wonderful things in the city.”