Lance Martin, Herald Senior Staff Writer

Advertisement

WELDON — Tim Blackburn has commitments, an early sign of the interest in the antiques mall phase of the Riverside Mill project in Weldon.

And the old cotton mill overlooking the Roanoke River will be ready for those vendors to stock up on their goods in about a month, Blackburn said, with an official opening planned for the first of March.

Blackburn, who runs Roanoke Valley Auction and will manage the antiques mall, also got a good idea Thursday of the crowds he can anticipate for his auctions, which will be held at Riverside Mill.

His New Year’s Day auction brought in a standing room only crowd. “Obviously, with it being a new place there are a few things to tweak,” he said. “There was a little problem with the heat and we were overwhelmed with the volume of people.”

Blackburn said there were close to 200 people at the auction and he had seating for 125.

Overall, he said, “People liked it. It was fresh, clean and new. Everything was good.”

Blackburn already has an estate sale planned in about a month and he continues to look for vendors at the mall. As far as how many vendors there will be come March, he said he didn’t know. “Obviously we want as many as we can get.”

A day before the auction, Riverside Mill developer Keith Cuthrell held an open house at the building to show possible future vendors the building and the potential it has for artisans and antiques vendors. “This is the first big effort to get prospective dealers to sign up.”

Cuthrell said when he discovered the building via a Web site he was attracted to it. “It looked like a lot of building for the price,” he said.

He saw the structure as a place for artisans and antiques dealers. He already has commitments from between 40 to 50 artisans, many of whom are guild quality artists. “They’re willing to give it a try,” he said. “It’s right off I-95. They like that. They like it’s an old cotton mill.”

Thus far the public has been receptive to the plans, Cuthrell said. “A lot of people were asking when they could see the place.”

Meanwhile, Cuthrell will also be working on getting a gourmet foods store to join the complex and is looking at other upscale retail.

An office building on the grounds would be perfect for a framing business or an eBay store, Cuthrell said.

For more information about the Riverside Mill Project call Blackburn at 536-3100 or 532-2277.