June 27, 1973 was a big day for the Yukon Vocational & Technical Training Centre (Y.V.T.T.C.).

A time capsule was placed in a concrete slab on the vocational school grounds and covered with concrete.

The capsule was a glass jar containing various memorabilia, including the 75th Klondike anniversary edition of the Whitehorse Star.

Art instructor Ted Harrison and the art students were the ones who originally decided to bury the time capsule. They used a glass jar because they felt it could handle the cold winters and would hold whatever they put in it.

Harrison – who went on to become an internationally-admired artist – asked students and faculty if they wanted to place something in the gallon glass jar before it was covered in cement.

Keith Simpson, carpentry instructor, put in the forms and poured the concrete that supported the new sculpture.

Former vocational school secretary Donna Clayson said they all put something into the jar, which was to be opened in 50 years.

And that will happen.

The capsule will be opened at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday – exactly 50 years from the day of the dedication ceremony. Onlookers are welcome to attend.

A photo of Harrison appears in the June 15, 1973 Star placing the copy of the paper’s 75th Klondike anniversary edition in the jar. No one else can remember what their treasures were.

On June 28, 1973, there was a dedication ceremony under the heading “Nameless Statue Unveiled”, with the member of the Yukon Territorial Council responsible for education, Hilda Watson, officiating.

This is in reference to “The Tree of Knowledge”, placed on top of the concrete slab that held the treasures. There was no reference to the time capsule. It only took a day for the capsule to be forgotten.

In fact, it was largely forgotten for the next 50 years. As the decades went by, there were very few who remembered or even knew about this big event, except for the few who had been involved.

The school taught students basic training and skill development to prepare them for future careers in their chosen field. It opened as the Whitehorse Vocational training School on June 11, 1963.

It was changed to the Y.V.T.T.C. in 1965. The school changed its name again in 1983 to Yukon College, although it wasn’t formally designated as a college until 1988.

In 2016, Clayson started the process of having the concrete slab opened so the glass gallon jar could reveal its treasures.

A group of people met on June 6 of this year at the site of the old vocational school, which is now the Department of Education building, located at 1000 Lewes Blvd.

Dakota Rhodes and Marco Harwood of Arcrite Northern Ltd were on-site.

“We’re just using a little concrete scanner here to see if we can find the object in this concrete slab,” Rhodes said.

“We’ve consistently seen an object in the forward left corner closest to the building. We don’t have definitive proof that that’s what we’re looking for, but I believe that’s exactly where it is.”

The machine they were using was a Conquest 100 Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) concrete scanner.

“It sends an electromagnetic pulse into the concrete and then anything that is conductive, any metal or materials, anything that has some conductivity to it, will bounce that signal back up to the machine, and that’s how we can pinpoint what’s under the concrete,” Rhodes said.

They detected what they think is the time capsule about 88.9 mm (3.5 inches) deep in the upper left corner of the concrete slab.

This is consistent with what Clayson has been told regarding the location of the time capsule, which was said to be in the upper left corner when facing the former vocational school.

Rhodes said he couldn’t find the perimeters to determine the exact size of the object. However, the approximate measurements of the capsule are 10.5 x 7 inches.

Arcrite Northern’s services were supplied in-kind.

There was talk of actually digging up and moving the entire concrete slab. It was decided not to go that route, as the organizers felt the capsule should be opened at the original vocational school site.

There were also concerns about digging up the concrete slab and damaging buried irrigation equipment in the process.

Clayson, who organized the entire time capsule project, advised that Adorna Landscaping owner Richard Vanderkley said irrigation equipment is buried in the ground at the site.

She also spoke with the fire chief and building inspector. They said they have no concerns about the project.

Mark Kelly of Kelly Construction, the firm undertaking the project, said he thought it best to do the extraction on the site of the old vocational school.

“I think for everybody that wants to come and watch, this is the original site.”

Kelly said he was also concerned about the time it would take to get the concrete slab out.

Kelly Construction’s work on the project will also be supplied in-kind. Kelly explained how he got involved in the project.

“Erin Stavenjord, Bob McCowan’s daughter, contacted me and of course it perked my interest right away…. I’m connected through family and friends to this.” (McCowan was the welding instructor.)

“My goal is to get it out in one piece,” Kelly said. “I don’t think it’s gonna happen but (that’s what) my goal is, so we’ll see.”

A series of 1.25 inch holes close to two feet deep were drilled last Thursday in order to put in Dexpan (an expanding grout) to crack the concrete.

The concrete slab will be heated with a Frost Fighter heater to improve the effectiveness of the Dexpan. Then the Dexpan will be poured in.

“When we go to break it, we’ll pour the stuff (Dexpan), come back in four hours; hopefully it’ll be open,” said Kelly.

“We’re just gonna have to see how it works. That’s all there is to it.”

Barbara Kelly (Mark’s mother) was also on hand for the meeting.

“My husband used to work here when they first opened up the school,” she said. “He was the carpentry instructor for almost 10 years.”

Roland Kelly was an instructor from 1963-1971.

Ken Wilbern also attended the gathering.

“I was one of the welders that built this thing that was standing on this cement (the Tree of Knowledge),” he said.

“I think I went back to work before the school was actually over for that term, so I missed the pouring of it.”

On June 6, asked why he was there, Wilbern replied, “To see if it’s gonna work.”

Wilbern was feeling pretty optimistic about the process. “We’ll see something in it.”

He was asked what he thinks might be in it.

“I haven’t got a clue,” he responded. “That’s her problem,” he said, pointing to Clayson.

Indicating a spot near the concrete slab, Clayson said, “I was standing right there when they closed it and I don’t remember too much. All I remember is putting something in the jar but what it was, I don’t know.”

Asked how she felt about the process at this stage, Clayson replied, “Excited!

“It’s like everybody has a little piece of their heart in concrete. They want to see what’s in there. They want to see part of their life come alive again.”

Clayson said she was pleased with the progress achieved June 6.

“Absolutely. I’m quite happy about it. I’m cautiously optimistic that it’s all going to go off without a hitch, and it will.

“I’m hoping when it cracks, it’s going to literally expose the gallon jar. It’s glass. So glass and concrete. What can go wrong?” Clayson joked.

“The next step is, let’s expose this thing; let’s see what’s in there, and let’s give people what they want.”

Clayson is hoping the jar did not break when it was covered with cement, or that the Yukon’s cold winters did not break the glass.

Stan Peters, one of the art students at the time the capsule was buried, feels that once the concrete is open and the jar is extracted, it will be intact, since it’s made of very thick glass.

A celebration will be held at the original site of the vocational school with students, instructors, various dignitaries and anyone interested in seeing what the capsule holds attending.

Dignitaries attending will include Mayor Laura Cabott and representatives of Yukon University. There are plans to live-stream the event on Facebook so people that are interested can watch.

Peters will be the one taking out the first item, and is quite excited about the honour.

There are also people affiliated with the school flying in for Wednesday’s ceremony. They include Stavenjord, McCowan’s daughter, and former welding student Zennie Zatorski and his wife, Connie.

Zatorski and Wilbern welded together the Tree of Knowledge which sat on the concrete base that the time capsule is buried on.

Kelly’s Construction is scheduled to cut into the concrete and pour the Dexpan into the pre-drilled holes today.

They are also planning on covering the concrete slab with a box to prevent access to the slab and its contents until the big day on Wednesday.

By Morris Prokop
and Donna Clayson