New clues to missing Randhurst time capsule lead nowhere

New clues that surfaced this week as to the possible location of the missing Randhurst Center time capsule have lead to a dead end, said Greg Peerbolte, lead sleuth and executive director of the Mount Prospect Historical Society.

The copper time capsule, hoisted atop the grand dome at the center of the mall in March of 1962 when construction was completed, was to be unveiled last month at the historical society's fundraiser.

It didn't surface even after construction crews tore down the 64-foot-wide dome last Friday to make way for a new shopping center being developed by Casto Lifestyle Properties.

A Mount Prospect resident passed on a clue to the Daily Herald that the capsule had been removed from the original glass dome when a storm damaged the glass. By the resident's account, the dome was repaired with corrugated metal and the capsule was taken off a girder and placed in Dock 11 in the mall's basement, along with other valuables.

Peerbolte said he could not corroborate the resident's account of the dome repairs. There were several shipping docks in the mall's basement, but they were demolished as part of the rebuilding process.

"There is no Dock 11," Peerbolte said Friday. "There might be one of the doors in the other docks that's marked 11."

Some items stored in the mall basement were turned over to the historical society in the mid-1990s.

"It wasn't really a lot of big stuff, (just) old photographs and mall directories, which personally is more interesting to me than the stuff that was in the time capsule," he said.

The roughly 2-by-3-foot copper time capsule, with the words "Randhurst Center" on top, contained copies of speeches made the day the mall opened, mall blueprints, newspapers and a dollar bill.

Peerbolte said a search of the historical society's off-site storage facilities did not yield any sign of the time capsule.

The quest continues. Anyone with clues should call (847) 392-9006.

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