In 1981, Jim Trail watched his father help restore the Alma Mater. Before placing the statue on its pedestal, Trail put a Polaroid photo of the restoration team in a glass jar, a time capsule of sorts.

On Tuesday, that glass container was found after the Alma Mater was removed from her pedestal and placed on a truck to Forest Park, Ill., for about nine months of restoring.

Trail, a University employee, returned to watch the removal of the statue and see if the photo was still intact.

“I just wanted to come see it and see if it was still here,” Trail said. “I didn’t think it would be in good shape at all.”

The photo was damaged by water that seeped underneath the statue, Jennifer Hain Teper, head of the preservation and conservation at the University said. Along with the glass container, a letter written by the professor of the restoration in 1981 was found, along with pennies from the actual date it was conserved. The letter contained information about the time and place of the restoration, saying it was a good project, Teper said.

Teper and Christa Deacy-Quinn, collections manager at The Spurlock Museum, were part of the team that has planned the restoration of the statue for the past three years. They said most everything went according to plan as the removal started at 8 a.m., and the statue was driven off around 1 p.m.

The statue was first moved from the pedestal to medal sawhorse where the state of it was assessed by the Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio — the company doing the full restoration.

The original plan was to take the sculpture apart and travel it in separate pieces, which was thought to be safer. But after further observation, it was decided it was too risky and the statue needed to come apart in a conservation lab.

“The sculpture weighs way less than they thought,” Teper said. “It actually weighs only 10,000 pounds, which means they can move it safely in one piece if they need to.”

The Alma Mater was then moved on to the truck where it was strapped down and prepared for the road to Forest Park.

There were plenty of spectators who watched as the statue was moved. Donna Fry, a retired employee of the University, came out with lawn chairs at 8 a.m. to watch the move from the beginning. She said seeing the Alma Mater be removed from the pedestal was, “breathtaking with a little hesitation.”

“This restoration company is a fantastic company, they know exactly what they’re doing,” Fry said. “I think it will be a wonderful thing, hopefully she comes back safe and sound.”

The statue is planned to be complete by May 4, 2013, right before graduation. Teper said she believes the restoration will only be a positive for the sculpture.

“It’s going to be great for campus, it’s really going to stabilize the structure and ensure she’ll be here for the long term,” Teper said. “Our next step is going to be ensuring that we continue to take care of her and don’t let her get to this level of deterioration.”