- Saint Kentigern Home
- About Us
- Building Saint Kentigern
- Our Future
- Open Days
- Careers
- College
- Boys' School
- Girls School
- Preschool
- International
- Boarding
- Alumni
- News
News
Friday 8 March 2013
Early in the morning on the day that the new MacFarlan Centre was opened by the Governor General of New Zealand, a small time capsule was sealed in the wall of the foyer to remain closed until the centenary in 40 years’ time.
The project of choosing and preparing the materials for the capsule was undertaken in 2012 by a small group of Year 8 students (Ryan Barrett, Alex MacDonald, Nathan Oddy and Vili Sipa) who chose to include a number of different items related to the year in which the MacFarlan Centre was built. The precise nature of the contents will be left to a succeeding generation to discover in 2053, the centennial year of the College, but they will find both published and digital material as well as some College artifacts.
General Manager of the Trust Board, Mr Eric Shiels unlocked the box in preparation. A lock and key box was chosen so there was no risk of a battery running out on a digital lock in the next 40 years! In his speech, Head of Middle School, Mr Duncan McQueen said that whilst at age 92, he was unlikely to be at the centenary, he hoped that a number of the students would return.
A class each of Year 7 girls and boys joined the ceremony to act as witnesses to the closure and sealing of the box. Long serving staff member, and current College archivist, Mr Warwick Bell placed the last item in the box – today’s New Zealand Herald with a front cover declaring traffic grid lock in Auckland. Mr Bell said that in 40 year’s time, it is likely that printed newspapers will be a thing of the past and Auckland will hopefully be boasting a light rail transit system to solve its traffic woes.
Mr Bell locked the box and placed a Saint Kentigern seal on the key hole before the boys stepped forward to screw on the protective board with the commemorative plaque.
Mr McQueen told the students to start counting….the box will be reopened in 14,600 days!
Back to News List