By Emily Williams
The city of Hoover celebrated the date of its incorporation on May 18 by sealing a time capsule in the Hoover Municipal Center’s lobby in honor of the 50th anniversary of the city. Organized by the Hoover Historical Society, the event is a part of the city’s continuing 50th anniversary celebrations.
Mayor Frank Brocato led the ceremony, highlighting the city’s early history and recognizing capsule contributions from the Hoover Fire Department and the school system.
Brocato said the city was founded in 1967 because of the success of the small fire and police department that served the existing community. In honor of its recent Class 1 Public Protection Classification by the Insurance Services Office, Fire Chief J.C. Wingate placed a Class 1 Emblem in the capsule.
In 1987, the addition of the Hoover City School System put the city on firm footing, Brocato said, and so he spent the past few months visiting the schools to collect items for the capsule.
Representing the schools, Hoover High School graduating senior Anna Claire Johnson and Spain Park graduating senior Paras Ahuja spoke about what the city has meant to them and placed their speeches in the capsule.
Johnson spoke about the city’s strong sense of community and Ahuja presented his experience moving from Rainbow City to Hoover for a better education and brighter future.
“When it is opened in 50 years, we want the attendees of that ceremony to be able to see how this community affected our daily lives,” Johnson said. “We also can hope that those attendees will be living in a city even greater than what Hoover is today. A city that has gone through the changes that we can identify is what we’d like to see.”
