A commemorative coin from the 1974 Commonwealth Games and a letter from former mayor D’Arcy Digby were among items found in a time capsule retrieved from the former Council headquarters on Baring Square West recently.

The time capsule was discovered behind a plaque marking the laying of the foundation stone for the building in 1972. The building, for the Ashburton Borough Council, was opened in 1974 and became home for the district council when the borough and Ashburton County councils amalgamated in 1989.

Chief Executive Hamish Riach said the time capsule was opened carefully last week by Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum archivist Connor Lysaght.

“Connor invited deputy mayor Liz McMillan and myself to be present at the opening, which was a really interesting exercise.

“The time capsule was actually a sealed PVC pipe, which was cut open very carefully and inside were four items, including the Commonwealth Games coin and a beautifully-worded letter from D’Arcy Digby, who was mayor at the time.”

Also in the capsule was a page from the Ashburton Guardian, which had stories covering the laying of the building’s foundation stone and other Council news. There was also a visitor promotion pamphlet, with a front page photo of people fishing on the banks of what is thought to be the Rakaia River.

Mr Riach said the items were well preserved, though there was some minor deterioration of the letter and some of the pages of the pamphlet were stuck together.

“The newspaper page was also fragile and the coin showed some signs of corrosion, but all in all, in fairly good order given 50 years has passed.”

Mr Riach said the items would be displayed at Te Whare Whakatere, Council’s new library and administration building on Baring Square East.

A new time capsule has recently been sealed and installed in the new building, with instructions to be opened in 2078.

“I hope people of the district will just as excited to open the new one, in time, and see a slice of how we lived in 2024.”

The former administration building is in the process of being sold.

Below: Checking out the contents of the old time capsule are (from left) museum archivist Connor Lysaght, Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum director Shirin Khosraviani, Chief Executive Hamish Riach and Deputy Mayor Liz McMillan.