THOUSAND OAKS : Panel Capsulizes Plan for City Centennial

Want a “Back to the Future” experience? Just wait until October, 2064.

That’s when Thousand Oaks will celebrate its centennial year of cityhood--and when time capsules installed in the Civic Arts Plaza courtyard will finally be opened.

Although few of today’s adults will be around to witness the ceremony, an 18-member committee has it all planned out.

They will seal the capsule in a bench-like vault this fall, during the Civic Arts Plaza’s grand opening ceremonies. And they will anoint 50 children to serve as its guardians.

Those youngsters will return to the site in the year 2014, place another capsule in the vault, and select a fresh cadre of guardians. They, in turn, will perform the same ritual in the year 2039, to mark the city’s 75th birthday.

The final generation of guardians will be in charge of opening all the capsules in the year 2064, as Thousand Oaks celebrates its first century.

Building the vault and gathering the capsule materials will cost about $7,100. Last week, council members approved that expense as part of the grand opening budget for the Civic Arts Plaza.

Only Councilwoman Elois Zeanah voiced concerns.

“I’m not sure how many of our residents think the time capsule is relevant or beneficial,” she said, criticizing the project’s price tag.

But in the end, Zeanah agreed to support the capsule. And she might even end up contributing to it. All council members will be asked to pen predictions for the future and seal them, for posterity, in the capsule.