A small crowd gathered at the new building at Forbes Hospital this week to witness an historic moment - the sealing of the time capsule which will be buried at the site to celebrate the significance of the new hospital.
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Member for Orange, Andrew Gee was on hand on Tuesday to officially seal the time capsule, which contains a number of items depicting what Forbes Hospital is like today.
All items in the time capsule were selected by the Lachlan Culture and Arts Working Group in consultation with Mr Gee.
The items chosen include the Lachlan Health Service 2013/14 annual report; copies of the Forbes Advocate including the edition featuring the official opening of the new building on January 19, 2016; a bound document featuring photos of the new hospital building and stages of the redevelopment, project newsletters, copies of sketches of the guga design features on the main entry doors made by local Wiradjuri artist Stephen Ferguson, news articles from the Forbes Advocate relating to the construction of the new hospital and a list of project team members; signatures of attendees at the official opening ceremony; overview of the Lachlan Health Council; construction plans of the new building at Forbes; and a hard drive with videos and photos of the redevelopment.
The hard drive was a topic of conversation at the time capsule sealing ceremony on Tuesday with those in attendance light-heartedly speculating as to whether people will be able to use a hard drive in 100 years time.
Lachlan Health Service project manager Deborah Hunter said the time capsule is a great way of preserving the history and heritage of the new hospital.
“Future generations can see how we developed our building and the support we received from the community,” she said.
“It’s a good overview of how we went about the building process.
“I’m sure when the capsule’s reopened in 50 or 100 years time the building will be very different … they can see how far they’ve come.”
Mr Gee said the time capsule was a “nice way to finish the opening of the hospital”.
“It’s a very important day, congratulations to everyone on putting together this time capsule,” he said.
“When you put a time capsule in, you always look back on what’s been achieved by those who came before you.
“We hope the community of Forbes in the future will be able to build on what we’ve got here and think ‘wow, what a community they must have had back in the time of 2016’.
“I have no doubt that the same community spirit will be alive and well in 100 years time when it’s opened.”
Mr Gee also commented on how much time capsules have changed in the last 100 years.
The time capsule is made of stainless steel and will be filled with gas to ensure no air gets into it once it is sealed, to prevent mold getting into it.
The capsule will be buried in cement near the main entry of the new building and will be guarded by ‘the keeper’ - a metal structure out the front of the hospital used to mark the spot where the time capsule is buried.
The creation of the time capsule follows on from the official opening ceremony which was attended by Mr Gee, NSW Premier Mike Baird, Deputy Premier Troy Grant and Minister for Health Jillian Skinner on Tuesday, January 19, 2016.
The new building at Forbes Hospital is part of the $113.7 million Lachlan Health Service project which included the construction of the new Parkes Hospital (completed in October 2015).
Now that the new building at Forbes Hospital is complete, work has commenced on the refurbishment of the Renal and Ambulatory Care units, scheduled to be complete in mid-2016.
