Antique Mall reopens on Route 13/127

Pinckneyville Antique, owned by Ron and Sherry Ridgeway, mall re-opened Thursday, May 1 in the former Willow Glen church on Route 13/127 just south of Pinckneyville. The grand re-opening drew a large crowd.

That's not a surprise as the Antique Mall drew crowds of shoppers and porch sitters to the square in Pinckneyville for many years. The business was destroyed by fire in June 2011, along with the historic Kunz Opera House next door.

The Foundation for the Future of Pinckneyville bought the lots where the two buildings had stood. It is the future site of the High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ridgeways, who had lived above shop, relocated to a home on Route 154 and built a pole barn, hoping to use it as the new Antique Mall. However, a neighbor objected to having a business there. The pole barn was put to good use housing Ron Ridgeway's antique car collection.

The future of the Antique Mall was uncertain. Then, a year and a half after the fire, Rev. Jerry Ross of Willow Glen church contacted them. The church needed to down-size. The Antique Mall needed a building. It was a match made in heaven.

The result is wonderful. The former church was just the right size to show off a multitude of antiques and house the booths of regional antique dealers.

Sherry Ridgeway said many of the previous booth holders returned and several new ones have opened up shop in the new building.

The crowd of locals who had made the Antique Mall a regular stop on the square are welcome to hang out at the new store, Ron Ridgeway said. One of the regulars, Tom Keene, helped tremendously with the renovation of the church.

"Every day that we worked, he worked," Ridgeway said.

The new store is home to beautiful antique furniture, quilts and booths full of collectible items.