Did You Know That There Is A ‘Bomb’ Buried In Owatonna’s Central Park?

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Anyone who has been to Central Park in Owatonna has probably noticed the gorgeous fountain, and the elevated stage area, and just to the right of that elevated stage, if you are looking at it from the fountain, is a concrete marker that states buried below is a time bomb that was placed in 1954, and it's to be opened in the year 2054. So why would someone bury a bomb in the middle of a park?

The 'Time Bomb' which was placed under that slab in 1954, would be known in our time as a time capsule, some have called them 'Century Safes', and they were previously known as 'Time Bombs' in the early 19th Century.

For some reason or another, when the time capsule was buried in the Centennial year of Owatonna in 1954, they went with the old school way of referring to a time capsule, maybe in part to fit with the celebration of the centennial?

It's not the first time the subject of the 'time bomb' has been brought up before. In the 2008 Owatonna Foundation Owatonnian, there was a brief blurb about this very thing.

On top of the interestingly worded slab, which who knows what the capsule might contain, my hope is a 100-year-old tater tot casserole recipe, there is plenty to enjoy within the confines to Central Park. On an early fall day, it was just nice to get out, sit at a picnic table, people watch, and soak in some sunshine and hear the birds sing. What was also pleasant to hear was the absence of some underground ticking noises.