The monstrous safe in the Allegheny County Controller's Office finally has been opened, but nothing of great value was found inside.

Instead, the 108-year-old Hibbard-Rodman-Ely Inc. safe made of manganese-steel alloy contained stationery, old assessment records, unused ledgers, minutes of employee association meetings and pencils of all sorts.

As it turned out, the Diebold Inc. offered to open it for free and actually spent 45 minutes preparing, drilling and maneuvering the combination dial to get the safe open.

Controller Mark P. Flaherty said, however, he waited for a news conference and official opening about 8:45 a.m. today to reveal what one might find in an old storage closet. It is estimated that the safe was last opened 35 or more years ago. Employees were unable to open it because the combination had been lost.

"I didn't think there would be anything of value," Mr. Flaherty said. "Historically, it's about what we expected."

A county inventory team is going through the safe contents to determine what must remain in the office and what can be offered to the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Mr. Flaherty said he'll consult with the state Records Bureau to help determine what must be kept.

As for the 10-ton safe, he said it could be sold on eBay, offered to the historical society or offered for sale to anyone willing to remove it from the controller's office free of charge. If no one wants it, it could be torn apart and sold as scrap metal.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.