HAMMOND | The Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau plans to reopen its Welcome Center doors today following flooding that left 44 inches of standing water in the center's basement last week.

Bureau spokeswoman Erika Scheeringa said the center's staff of 20 full- and part-time workers on Monday regained access to the building, located off Interstate 80/94 on Kennedy Avenue. The staff formed a brigade line to clear out waterlogged brochures and maintenance equipment from the basement, and new sump pumps were installed, she said.

"We all worked as a team," Scheeringa said, noting that the first and second floors of the building, including the John Dillinger museum, were unaffected by floodwaters.

As of Tuesday, water had been cleared from the basement, Scheeringa said. The Welcome Center was forced to close Sept. 13 after heavy rains brought floodwaters that closed a portion of the Borman Expressway and flooded Kennedy Avenue near the facility. The flooding also forced the evacuation of three hotels near the center, all of which were open Tuesday, Scheeringa said.

Even with the scheduled reopening of the welcome center today, the monthly Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors meeting has been moved to noon Friday at Teibel's restaurant, located at the intersection of U.S. 30 and U.S. 41 in Schererville.