CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – It’s a missing link in the history of Coral Springs and now, city officials are hoping to crack the case of a missing time capsule.
Coral Springs was founded in 1963 and later buried the time capsule in 1976 at Florida Coast Bank, 3001 University Drive, where an Amtrust Bank now stands.
According to a city spokesperson, the original capsule was a large plastic tube containing several newspapers, magazines, a July calendar of events, prints, stamps commemorating the Olympic Games and a $2 bill.
Coral Springs residents remain proud of their relatively short history. At their historical museum, visitors will find memorabilia of when Coral Springs was called Coral Springs Properties and items once on the site of the old city hall building.
“We’re really at a loss for what could’ve possibly happened,” said Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing for Coral Springs Christine Parkinson.
The capsule’s contents were unearthed and re-buried in 2003 — along with some new items — at the northeast corner of University Drive and Wiles Road, near what is now a Truist Bank. New items like cellphones were added during the reburial.
In 2021, the city attempted to check on the capsule and move it for safekeeping during roadwork, but that’s where the mystery began.
“When we went to go excavate it, using our public works crew, we realized that the time capsule space for it was actually empty,” said Parkinson.
No one knows what happened to the time capsule after it was re-buried between 2003 and 2021.
“So, we’re kind of at a dead end,” Parkinson told Local 10 News.
It’s hard to miss the large plastic tube filled with items not enormously valuable, but of great importance to the people of Coral Springs.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s missing and we’re always hopeful that we’re going to get that, or any other items related to Coral Springs’ history,” said Parkinson.
Anyone with information about the time capsule’s disappearance or whereabouts can be anonymously submitted to history@coralsprings.gov.
The city also encourages anyone interested in regional or Coral Springs history to visit CoralSprings.gov/History to learn more.