Archaeologists in a few hundred years’ time will be excited when they discover the time capsule buried at Gibtelecom’s city centre offices
Minister for Heritage, Culture, Youth and Sport, the Hon Fabian Vinet, combined his heritage brief with his role as Chairman of Gibtelecom, when he formally buried a sealed steel chest containing early 21st century relics-to-be, including telecommunications equipment, Gibtelecom corporate records and Company publications, in the floor of the John Mackintosh Square building.

An engraved plaque will be placed over the floor of what is to be the new Customer Service Centre, to mark the time capsule’s location.

The ceremony was attended by Gibtelecom’s CEO, Tim Bristow, along with Verizon Communications’ Vice President (Europe), Mr Rahul Saxena and other Gibtelecom board members. Verizon are joint owners of Gibtelecom along with the Government of Gibraltar.

Representatives of every Gibtelecom department also witnessed the event.

Fabian Vinet paid tribute to Gibtelecom for what he described as an innovative initiative to preserve part of Gibraltar’s history. He added, ‘The capsule will provide future generations with a glimpse of the way telecommunications has developed over the last century or so.’

Much of this history will be expressed in Malcolm Beanland’s book ‘Gibraltar Calling’, part of the time capsule, which traces the origins of Gibtelecom back to the mid 1880s and the Eastern Telegraph Company. It also covers the history of the company up to the merger of Gibraltar Nynex with Gibtel.

Gibraltar Nynex Communications Ltd was formed in 1990 when the former government Gibraltar Telephone Department was privatised.

The new offices at John Mackintosh Square are partly the reconstruction of the existing building, which dates back to 1801 or earlier. The new construction rests on piles, or legs, some of which penetrate a full 20 metres down to the bedrock below.

Piles were also driven tight to the adjoining wall of the Haven, as the newly-excavated cellar went lower than the foundations of the 1970s’ building.

This was not necessary on the other side, as the neighbouring Old Guard Room’s foundations surprisingly went lower than the new basement.

Work is expected to be completed within 18 months, with the new building housing the Customer Service Centre and general offices, which will be integrated with the nearby Haven and City Hall, where Gibtelecom also has technical departments.

Before the time capsule was buried, Tim Bristow expressed his appreciation for the work carried out by Sharrock Shand (first-phase Contractors); MJ Hassan & Co (Project Manager); WSRM Architects; E&M Consultants Ltd (Mechanical & Electrical Engineers); QSS Ltd (Quantity Surveyors); AKS (Gibraltar) Ltd (Structural Engineers) and JB Engineering Consultants Ltd (Clerk of Works).