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I got one of the machinists at the Harvard physics lab to make a long, milled tube of heavy aluminum. It really does look like a time capsule. I presented it to the School with one of my kid’s stuffed alligator in it. — Dick Leahy
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C A P S U L E
> In December 1970, the key players laid a “cornerstone” from the original carriage house in the new brick edifice of the “new Park School.” (It is located outside the door of the small gym.)
Dick Leahy was inspired to mark this historic moment in Park’s history with a time capsule. It now resides in a cavity in the cinderblock wall in the lobby where it can be seen behind four glass bricks. A plaque on the wall near it reads:
To celebrate the move to Goddard Avenue and the construction of this building, every student, teacher, and administrator at The Park School during the academic year 1970 –71 placed a message or artifact in this tube with the hope that every 50 years it be opened, enjoyed, added to, and resealed. Charlie Cunningham, Dick Leahy, Dr. James Faulkner, Mary Faulkner, Bob Hurlbut, Anne Worthington Prescott, Earl Flansburgh, Peter Volpe
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Richard G. Leahy made it possible to open ahead of schedule and under budget. This is an unheard-of accomplishment. . . The faculty has waited long for this year and with good spirits rearranged their academic schedule to accommodate the early move. The students, I believe, simply enjoyed the whole process. All of this effort by so many was only made possible by the contribution that your faith in Park generated. The Board of Trustees expresses it deep sense of appreciation to you, the parents and friends of The Park School. — Philip Porter, Board Chair Speaking at the November 1971 Corporation meeting
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My most vivid memory is the slightly dank, new construction smell of the concrete in the stairwells, and the echoes as feet trotted up and down — so different from the warm wood smell and creaks in the boards that I remembered from the old school.
— Polly Hoppin ’74
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One day in the fall, I was sitting in my office across from the fifth grade rooms. I heard a locker slam, followed by “Oh *&*#$(!” I poked my head out of the office and saw that it was Earl Flansburgh — checking out the lockers. “They were noisier than I thought,” he explained. That was impressive: he remembered, he cared, and he checked.
Flansburgh Architects designed the building to reflect The Park School’s educational philosophy, to be flexible for future growth, and to be easy-to-maintain and durable. This building was designed to serve the Park School well into the future. We’re happy to see that it has. — September
— Bill Satterthwaite
171 GODDA RD AVENUE TURNS 40
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