SCHERERVILLE | Construction on a mausoleum in a Schererville cemetery is about three months away from completion, officials there said Thursday.

An August tornado ripped off the roof of the mausoleum at Memory Lane Memorial Park, located on the south side of U.S. 30 just west of Burr Street.

The cemetery temporarily relocated the caskets that were in the mausoleum to on-site locked containers, cemetery owners have said.

All of the caskets are shrink-wrapped, said Rob Guetzloff, environmental sanitarian with the Lake County Health Department who has inspected the work.

"They are all stored respectfully in those containers and labeled," Guetzloff said.

The Health Department plans to inspect the site every two weeks, he said.

Although the mausoleum won't be finished for a few months, 324 new crypts are expected to arrive in about three weeks, said general contractor John Rice, of Crown Point-based Rice Construction.

The plan is to return the crypts to the mausoleum by May 23, in time for Memorial Day weekend, Guetzloff said.

"Once they get the roof on, there should be no problem in getting the caskets back in," he said.

The new mausoleum will have a glass rear wall, pillars, a pitched roof and a chapel area twice as large as the previous chapel, Rice said.

Footing and concrete walls have been poured, he said.