Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

A crew member from Lee Farms Excavating of Paxton examines where a long rectangular box that is believed to be a time capsule from 1922-23 was discovered inside the cornerstone of Cannon Elementary School which is being demolished.

A crew member from Lee Farms Excavating of Paxton extracts the cornerstone of Cannon Elementary School from the demolition rubble.

A long rectangular box that is believed to be a time capsule from 1922-23 was discovered inside the cornerstone of Cannon Elementary School which is being demolished.

A crew member from Lee Farms Excavating of Paxton examines where a long rectangular box that is believed to be a time capsule from 1922-23 was discovered inside the cornerstone of Cannon Elementary School which is being demolished.

A crew member from Lee Farms Excavating of Paxton extracts the cornerstone of Cannon Elementary School from the demolition rubble.

A long rectangular box that is believed to be a time capsule from 1922-23 was discovered inside the cornerstone of Cannon Elementary School which is being demolished.

DANVILLE – An unexpected surprise was discovered Wednesday morning as crews continue to tear down Cannon Elementary School on East Main Street.

A long black rectangular box was found encased in the cornerstone of the 100-year-old school that has been shuttered since January 2016 after heavy rains during Danville District 118’s winter break flooded the lower level of the building.

Alice Pollock – who manages the Facebook page, Friends of Cannon School, which she started six years ago to share memories of the school – was at the demolition site Wednesday when the box was discovered and believes it is a time capsule from 1922-23 when the school was built.

“We knew they were going to reach the cornerstone (Wednesday), but the time capsule was a surprise to everyone,” she said.

“We had no idea that the time capsule was there,” she said, adding that she mentioned the possibility of a time capsule being buried on the school property during a private meeting with Superintendent Alicia Geddis in April but was told that district officials weren’t aware of any time capsules.

“They used to bury them in the ground, but this one wasn’t buried,” Pollock said. “It was enclosed in the top of the cornerstone.”

That placement of the box inside the cornerstone has led Pollock to believe the contents of the box must be 100 years old because the cornerstone was a part of the school’s original construction.

“The cornerstone was put in there at the time they built the building in 1922,” she said.

Pollock also is confident the box is a time capsule because the Lee Farms Excavating crew identified it as such, and they are familiar with time capsules from other demolition jobs.

“The excavating company was like, ‘Oh yes, this is a time capsule,’” she said.

Lee Farms crew members called the district’s Buildings and Grounds Director Skip Truex who, within 10 to 15 minutes of the discovery, arrived at the site to pick up the box and leave with it.

“We’re afraid of what they’re going to do with the box,” Pollock said. “It needs to get to the (Vermilion County) museum.”

Truex said Wednesday night that district officials will decide “when and how to open it will take place.”

Back in March, Truex estimated it would cost $15 million or more to repair the building. The District 118 School Board then voted unanimously to tear down the school due to extensive damage and mold and awarded a $456,750 contract to Lee Farms Excavating of Paxton for the demolition work.

Pollock has attended school board meetings this spring and met with Geddis in April with the hopes of saving her alma mater from the wrecking ball by petitioning for a historic landmark designation or at least preserving a part of the school’s unique and historically significant architecture.

“I’m passionate about Cannon School because my mom went to school there; I went there for kindergarten through sixth grade, and three of my daughters went there,” she said.

“We begged them to save the front arches,” Pollock said. “There are maybe a dozen 100-year-old arched windows in the front and above the doors to the playground.”

District officials, however, told her it would cost between $500,000 and $1 million to try to save the arches which might not be structurally sound to stand on their own, she said.

Pollock said she contacted PACA (Preservation and Conservation Association) in Champaign, hoping they could salvage the unique Gothic-style arched windows but was told by PACA that district officials would not allow anyone inside the school.

Truex said Wednesday night that work at the Cannon School site should be completed in about two weeks and that the district has not made any plans yet for the space.

Pollock said she plans to be on-site every day to watch her beloved school come down.

“We have six to eight people who come every day to the demolition site. Some of us come for a few hours each day,” she said. “They have about a quarter to half of the school down. The gym is down and the northeast side.”

Wednesday’s discovery, however, might not be the only one. Pollock believes there could be more time capsules buried on the school property.

“A neighbor said he went to school there in 1964 and remembers a time capsule being buried under the flagpole when it was put in,” she said.

In addition, she said Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education John Hart told her that he was present when a time capsule was buried in the 1990s in the lawn at the front of the school.

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