A six-foot-tall safe resides inside the Athens County Courthouse… but no one knows what’s inside, and the combination has been lost for years.
Athens County has it’s very own Pandora’s box, but the combination has been lost for years.
In the first floor hallway at the Athens County Courthouse, a-six-foot-tall steel safe has for years hidden its contents from Athens prosecutors, lawyers, judges and residents.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Athens County Commissioners decided it’s time to crack open the safe.
“It’s been locked as long as anyone can remember,” Commissioner Lenny Eliason said.
Commissioner Chris Chmiel explained County Commissioners office has been trying to clean up the courthouse, and the safe is a part of that project.
“We’re working on making the place look nicer,” Chmiel said.
Chmiel said that Commissioner Charlie Adkins has been working on “loose ends” at the courthouse, and has been exploring options for the safe.
“It’s a situation that hasn’t been dealt with (so far),” Chmiel said.
According to Eliason, no one in the office knows how old the safe is.
“The combination got lost when an employee in the prosecutors office changed it, who is no longer here,” Eliason said.
Eliason explained the commissioners are looking to find another purpose for the safe. But before they can clean out the contents of the safe, they have to get it open.
“We’re contacting a locksmith who's going to drill into (the safe),” Eliason said.
Because the locksmiths will only be drilling small holes, the value of the safe won’t be impacted by the damages.
Among the other speculators, Chmiel is stumped by what could be inside.
“It’s been sitting there for who knows how long, and no one seems to be able to find the combination,” he said.
Chmiel said some have guessed that the object in the safe could be related to a past court case.
“We have to see what it takes to get it open,” he said.
No date has been set for the safe’s opening.
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