Imagine it’s July 4, 2076.

A crowd gathers in Beal Park as citizens open a time capsule buried fifty years earlier. Inside are handwritten letters, family photographs, newspaper clippings, city documents, and everyday objects that tell the story of Midland in 2026. Some items spark laughter. Others answer questions no history book ever could. Who were these people? What did they value? What kind of city were they trying to build? That scene doesn’t exist yet, but it could.

A few weeks ago, I sat down with Midland resident Eliel Rosa. The City of Midland recently announced Rosa’s idea for a community time capsule during the Beal Park groundbreaking. I expected our conversation to focus on what might go inside the capsule. Instead, we spent most of our time discussing the kind of Midland that today’s residents can leave to future generations.

Rosa said the idea first grew out of conversations about artificial intelligence and how quickly technology is changing the world. If AI transforms everyday life over the next several decades, he wondered what future generations should know about Midland today.

Midland’s top stories. One quick email. Free, every Friday.
Get Midland Wrapped, our free weekly email for busy Midland residents. Each Friday, we break down the week’s most important local stories — what happened, why it matters, and what to watch next — so you can stay informed without the noise.

“What was Midland in 2026?” Rosa asked. “What were people thinking?… We want to leave for the future an idea of what we did, who we were.”

But the idea reaches back further than AI. While living in and studying the history of Curitiba, Brazil, Rosa became fascinated by how city leaders invited ordinary citizens—not just architects, planners, and government officials—to help imagine what their city should become decades into the future. The process became known as “Curitiba of Tomorrow,” and it’s the model he hopes Midland can adapt.

“I’m talking about inviting moms and dads… students and veterans and everybody, because this is our city,” he said. “I’m talking about people from all walks of life.”

That vision extends beyond deciding what belongs in a time capsule. One of Rosa’s favorite ideas is to ask residents to write handwritten letters to future Midlanders.

“This is who I am, this is my family, and this is my message to you in 50 years,” he said.

He’s also less interested in preserving rare artifacts than ordinary ones. A cell phone. A printed book. A television remote. A Bible.

The objects people hardly notice today may one day help explain what life in Midland looked like in 2026. Throughout our conversation, Rosa kept coming back to one word. Legacy.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about this word,” he said. “Legacy. It means a lot to me.”

At one point, Rosa asked me to read Jeremiah 6:16 aloud: “Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”

“I believe that if you want to build a better future, it is not so much grounded on the present, it has to be grounded on the past,” Rosa said. “What is it that we can learn from that in order not to repeat it in the future?”

Planning for the project is still underway. Rosa said he plans to begin working through ideas with city staff, including how Midland residents can help decide what to put in the capsule.

“Let’s hear from people,” Rosa said. “Let’s hear from business people… hospital nurses… get their inputs… so that we make this a community thing and not an experts or a city thing.”

Near the end of our conversation, Rosa explained what he hopes future Midlanders discover when they open the capsule.

“We can do something positive… to leave a positive legacy,” he said. His hope is that the people of 2076 will “applaud us and not boo us in 50 years.”

Before Rosa places the first item inside the capsule, Midland residents have an opportunity to think about a different question: What decisions can we make today that will leave the next generation with a better Midland?

The letters and artifacts will preserve part of that answer. The community they inherit will tell the rest.