Following a month’s worth of work, the Knoxville Senior Center is open again after it was flooded due to heavy rains.

The center located in the basement of Knoxville City Hall officially re-opened on Tuesday, about a month after an inch or so of flood waters seeped in. Once the floors dried out, volunteers spent the next few weeks removing waterlogged furniture, repairing damage and cleaning up in anticipation of re-opening.

The center’s kitchens were not affected by the flooding, so Meals on Wheels and carry-outs were still available.

Shelly Braley is the director of the Senior Center; she tells KNIA/KRLS News the forced closure left many senior citizens with nowhere to go or anyplace to have lunch during the day.

“A lot of them were very lonely and depressed, I was told; and they’re just glad to be going somewhere, play cards in the morning and eat here in a community where they can visit each other,” Braley says.

The cleanup did enable the Senior Center to remove a lot of unwanted items and upgrade the look of the main room; there’s still some work being done to repair the remaining scars and restore the basement to top condition.