FALL RIVER – A crew of demolition workers were dismayed last week when they learned the time capsule they found while tearing down Immaculate Conception Church was almost completely empty.

“Those of us that were present were very disappointed with the findings,” developer Thomas St. Pierre said via text message.

According to St. Pierre, little more than a handful of coins were found in the time capsule, along with what he described as a “watery pulp solution.” St. Pierre, who bought the property and is demolishing the church to build 14 houses, said workers found a copper box encased in concrete behind the building’s cornerstone.

“The copper box has perforations in it (and) due to its age was not watertight,” said St. Pierre, adding that this likely caused much of the box’s contents to decompose.

The only identifiable items found inside the capsule were a 1916 half-dollar, a 1920 quarter, a 1923 dime, and a 1927 copper penny.

According to the archives of The Herald News, the capsule also contained an Oct. 15, 1927 article from The Herald News that detailed the church’s early history.

Historical Commission Chairwoman Kristen Cantara Oliveira said she had been unaware that a time capsule had been built into the church’s walls and said she did not know what its original contents may have been. However, she did speculate as to what might have been sealed inside the time capsule when the church was built.

“When people do this, it’s generally things significant to that time, or even the parish,” she said. “Maybe they had a list of parishioners or article about the parish. Maybe letters from the parishioners themselves. That would be my guess.”

Built in 1927, Immaculate Conception church closed its doors in 2012 and had remained unoccupied for more than six years. Demolition of the building began last Monday and construction of the 14 new homes on the site is expected to begin this spring.