Villa Park's Next Time Capsule Goes Into a Park the City Didn't Have in 2000

"Jim Brodsky said children and adults are welcome to place an item no larger than a fist inside the capsule, which will be placed underground at the shopping center." The Los Angeles Times ran that line on December 29, 1999, in a short Villa Park item by Marissa Espino.

Twenty-six years later, Villa Park is burying another capsule. The city's flyer puts this one at Villa Park Knowles, a property the city only acquired in 2022. The new location tracks a real change in the town. The first capsule went to the Town Center because that was the only shared ground Villa Park had. The second one has a park.

Why the 2000 Capsule Went Under a Shopping Center

Brodsky owned Villa Park Pharmacy. The Times reported his ceremony as a Saturday event, noon to 2 p.m., at Villa Park Center on Santiago Boulevard. Once it was full, the capsule would go underground right there at the center.

For a city capsule, that sounds like an odd spot until you look at the town's layout. Villa Park is almost entirely residential. It has one Town Center and no churches within city limits. It also never had a traditional public park, which gave rise to the old local saying that residents' yards were their parks. In 1999, the shopping center at Santiago and Wanda was the closest thing Villa Park had to a commons, so a pharmacy owner hosting the town's millennium capsule there fit the town.

Villa Park Pharmacy is still at the Town Center. The city's business directory lists it at 17821 Santiago Blvd., phone (714) 998-3030, and the pharmacy's own site gives the same address. Ralphs, Rockwell's Bakery & Cafe, Bagel Me and Buccaneer Pizza are on the same directory. Whatever went into the ground in 2000 sat there for years under a parking lot that's part of a normal errand run.

The Record on When It Came Back Up Doesn't Line Up

Here's where the paper trail gets loose. The 1999 Times item said the capsule would be opened in 2020. A community history guide, villapark.co, tells it differently. It says six time capsules were buried in Villa Park in 2000, filled with items from children and Villa Park groups, and opened on January 1, 2025.

These accounts may describe the same project, or they may not. Several capsules might have grown out of Brodsky's one. The 2020 date might have slipped five years. We couldn't find a published inventory of what came out, a list of who was there, or a confirmed burial spot for the six. So if you remember dropping a fist-sized object into a capsule at Villa Park Center around New Year's 2000, your memory may be the most detailed record left.

The city calendar's wording leaves a related gap. It lists a "Community Viewing of Time Capsule Contents" on October 19, 2026, without saying which capsule's contents will be shown. The obvious guess is the new USA 250 collection before it goes into the ground. The listing doesn't confirm that, though, so check with the city before you go if you're hoping to see what came out of the 2000 dig.

The Park That Didn't Exist Yet

The new capsule is tied to a national date. The city's flyer invites residents, businesses and organizations to contribute photos, personal items and messages for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

"The capsule will be buried later this year at the Villa Park Knowles and reopened in 2076 for the 300th Anniversary."

That one sentence on the flyer covers both the place and the timeline. It's a very different setup from 1999. That capsule was put together by a local business owner, buried under a shopping center and meant to come up in about two decades. This one comes from the city, goes into the city's first dedicated park and open space, and stays down for 50 years. Before 2022, a city-run capsule had no park to go into.

If you meant to submit something, you're probably too late. The city's submission form displayed "This form is now closed" when checked on October 2, 2026. Neither the form nor the city's USA 250 page ever posted a deadline. The city still lists [email protected] for questions, which is worth a try if you have a family item or a photo you'd hate to see miss the 2076 opening.

Two October Evenings at City Hall

The capsule gets two events on the city calendar, back to back:

1. Community Viewing of Time Capsule Contents. Monday, October 19, 2026, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., in the Community Room/Council Chambers.
2. Time Capsule Installation. Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 5:30 to 7 p.m., according to the event's detail page. That page lists no venue and still shows the placeholder "Enter event description."

Pin down the installation date before you plan around it. One version of the city homepage listed a "Time Capsule Installation and Dedication" for Wednesday, October 21, at 5:30 p.m. Another version shows the installation on Tuesday, October 20, with a LEAC meeting in the Wednesday slot. Since the flyer names the Knowles as the burial site, the installation may happen there rather than at City Hall, but the city hasn't said.

The Monday viewing is the one with a firm time and room. If you only make one, make that one. Once installation wraps up, the next look inside this capsule is 50 years out.

The Town Center Still Hosts the Rest of the Fall

The capsule has moved to the park, but the Town Center hasn't lost its role. The Villa Park Community Services Foundation's fall calendar still runs through the shopping center Brodsky used in 1999. On September 26, 2026, Pacific Symphony musicians played a free outdoor "Symphony on the Go!" there. HalloweenFest comes next, ten days after the capsule events.

Two items need a quick check. The Chanukah header says Thursday, December 10, while the description says Wednesday. The Foundation also says the Santa Tour has new stop times this year, so look at its route map before you plan a curbside wave.

The Dry Land Boat Parade has its own long history. Villapark.co dates it to about 1980 and notes that newspapers called the December 1982 parade the third annual, with roughly 25 decorated entries. The tradition stopped for a while and was later revived. When the USA 250 capsule comes back up in 2076, a printed parade route or a HalloweenFest flyer from this fall would be exactly the kind of item that tells the next generation how the town spent its Decembers.

Here's the practical version. Villa Park Knowles is getting the capsule, and the Town Center still hosts the parties. Be in the Community Room on October 19 if you want to see what's going in, and pick up something from Villa Park Pharmacy on the way, the business whose owner organized the town's last capsule.

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