The times they are a-changin' but before today gets away from us, the Log House Museum and the Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project are upping the ante and expanding on their proposed time capsule project.

Nov. 13, some 157 years to the day after the Denny Party officially landed on Alki, remains the official send-off day for the project. But according to Log House Museum director Andrea Mercado, the original modest budget of $1,000 has expanded. Mercado says she this is because of the fundraising efforts of Paul and Libby Carr, co-chairs of the Plaza Project. The Herald reported in a Sept. 15 article, the original time capsule was to be 4 feet long and 1 foot wide.

"It will be bigger," said Mercado. "The size will depend on the artifacts and other stuff we get. We welcome items from all over Seattle, but I think what we'll be given will be heavily West Seattle. Our museum will collaborate with the Carr's organization to determine the contents."

Mercado said the capsule will be placed carefully under the bricks of Liberty Plaza in spring or summer "when the ground is softer." She will accept items between now and that time. However, she desires photographs, voice recordings, and other random items specific to Nov. 13, a sort of day in the life of Seattle.

"I want people in the future to know what was really going on," said Mercado. "They'll be able to find pictures in the library of our president, City Council, famous local authors and other benchmarks of our lives. We are more interested in recordings of what school children are doing, perhaps the City Council minutes, a receipt from a gas station, and photos taken that day. I am being vague because I don't want to limit the ideas other people might come up with. I'm surrounded by historic objects so I am looking for new ideas. The capsule will be opened Nov. 13, 2058.

"One major challenge is the longevity of gold CD's," she said. "If even a corner of the disk gets ruined, the whole thing is no good. We are trying to find out how best to preserve disks. We do want some regular photos but then we might end up with over a thousand submissions."

Mercado finds that those who tour the museum confuse two other Alki time capsules, the one placed under the Pioneer Monument at 63rd and Alki on Nov. 13, 1951, and the other placed under the old podium of the Alki Statue of Liberty by the Boy Scouts a year later.

The Pioneer Monument capsule will remain buried until Nov. 13, 2051. The 5-foot by 18-inch capsule contains a Boeing swept-back wing jet bomber, local newspapers, Sears catalogues, and papers written about the event by a third-grade class. General Douglas MacArthur place a wreath on the monument and raced away after six minutes to give a speech against then-President Harry S Truman whom he planned to run against for president.

The Boy Scout time capsule was dug up and opened in July of 2000 after a backhoe damaged it and its contents.

"History always changes, depending on who tells the stories," said Mercado with sentiment in her voice. "Those high up who could read and write told stories of Chief Sealth and the Duwamish. We once placed our values on that. We now have (the year) 2000 values on this information.

"The Duwamish are finishing their long house, and will have another way of looking at history. It all depends on your lens."

To donate or become involved in recording events on Nov. 13 please contact www.loghousemuseum.org or call 938-5293. Also visit www.sealady.org