For now, the contents are a mystery.
But on Tuesday, city leaders plan to open a time capsule that’s been sealed within the walls of Fort Lauderdale City Hall since 1969.
The 12:30 p.m. event, open to the public, is doubling as a ceremonial demolition of City Hall, a gray bunker of a building located at 100 N. Andrews Ave.
A section of the building will be removed for Tuesday’s demolition ceremony, symbolizing the end of an era and the start of a new chapter in the city’s rich history.
City Hall closed for good after the building’s basement flooded during a record-breaking rainstorm on April 12, 2023. The 1960s-era building lost power, forcing City Hall employees to work from home or in rented space.
Fort Lauderdale now has three options: Build a new City Hall in the same spot; sell the land and look for another spot to build its government campus; or buy a building that’s already standing.
Demolition of the old City Hall will cost around $700,000 and happen in stages, city officials say. Hauling away all the debris will cost another $2.5 million.
But about that time capsule, some are wondering what’s inside — including Mayor Dean Trantalis.
“I’m sure they’ll have a newspaper from that day,” he said. “Maybe there’s something about us putting a man on the moon. And something regarding the Vietnam War. We’re looking forward to opening it. I never knew we had a time capsule. They discovered it as they were preparing the building for demolition. It will be exciting.”
Commissioner John Herbst had his own thoughts about what might be inside the time capsule.
“There’s probably the Sun Sentinel in there,” he said.
“Maybe Jimmy Hoffa,” he added, tongue in cheek. “And something associated with the moon landing.”
Commissioner Warren Sturman also took a guess at what might be inside the time capsule.
“I’m thinking maybe blue suede shoes from the rock ’n’ roll era,” Sturman said.
Vice Mayor Steve Glassman had fun guessing.
“That was 55 years ago,” he said. “A photo of a young Dean Trantalis getting ready to move to Fort Lauderdale, when his hair was naturally dark. It’s not going to be as exciting as Al Capone’s vault. I think we should ask Geraldo Rivera to come over and cover this.”
Rivera hosted “The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults,” a live television special that aired in 1986. The show focused on the live opening of a walled-off underground room in a Chicago hotel once owned by Capone. The vault, hyped by Rivera as potentially containing great riches or dead bodies, turned out to be empty save for debris.
Trantalis says he’d like to see a new time capsule buried within the walls of the new City Hall.
Any ideas on what it might include?
“An 8-by-10 glossy of me,” the mayor said with a laugh.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan