The buyer and the seller of the Peru Antique Mall provided more information Monday about the 30,000-square-foot building that has been sold north of Interstate 80 and south of May Road in Peru.

Jan Olson, a former medical technician whose career started at the former St. Mary’s Hospital in La Salle, said she and her husband, Jack, had the building constructed specifically for the purposes of serving as an antique mall.

They opened April 1, 2000 and are closing April 1, 2020, and it’s a bittersweet situation. She said she feels for the employees and the 135 dealers, and she and Jack have been working to help them find new locations or to move their antiques. She said she believes some of the dealers have been looking at a space in Oglesby.

“Everybody’s kind of heartbroken, but nobody wanted to do this,” she said of running the mall 362 days a year, making sure all dealers got paid, taking rent and keeping track of all the taxes. She said none of the dealers or employees showed interest in taking on the business, and her children did not want to do it.

Bob Grivetti, of Peru, and some of his business associates showed interest in the building and the 4½ acres it sits upon. The Olsons turned the process over to their lawyer and the transaction was completed within two months.

Jan Olson said she’s grateful to the buyers for giving the dealers three months to move out or sell off. Visitors to the mall will find some booths and items in display cases marked down anywhere from 20% to 50% off, Jan said.

Jan also said she also feels for the customers — many of whom are local and many of whom are travelers on I-80, from anywhere ranging from Maine to California. They’ve also had repeat customers from Canada, Germany and China.

Jan said either she or Jack have worked at the business just about every day for two decades, and they are looking forward to spending time with family and seeing a great-granddaughter for the first time.

Grivetti said two businesses — a Midwest distribution center for Teran Industries and the Machinery Parts Warehouse of which he is part-owner — will occupy much of the space. They still will have some space available, perhaps, for other users. Equipment such as large buckets for earth-moving equipment will occupy gravel spread out on the land between May Road and the antique mall. The lot will be fenced in.

Teran, Grivetti said, has large attachments such as hammers and rippers for Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere and Volvo equipment.