O’FALLON, Ill. (First Alert 4) – A new food hall called “The Old Base Factory” is set to open Aug. 28 in a building with a history of making bases for Major League Baseball.
“This building made all the bases for Major League Baseball for over 40 years. They still do that in Belleville, they just outgrew the building. So when we acquired the building next to the sports park the story was just perfect,” said Eric Wallace, co-owner of Old Base Factory.
The food hall will offer multiple food options and entertainment for families. It is located across the street from the O’Fallon Family Sports Park.
Food and entertainment options
The food hall will include six food options and seven different brands, along with drinks from local craft brewery Urban Chestnut.
“We’ve got six food options and seven different brands, we’ve partnered also with Urban Chestnut, our local craft brewery, but we’ll have all the different beers and drinks. I think it will be a great space for teams to come over between games, and weekend nights or week nights we’ll have a lot of local stuff going on too so the neighborhoods and the actual people here in O’Fallon can enjoy the space as well,” Eric Wallace said.
Food options include burgers, pizza, Mexican food and ice cream.
The space will include dining tables, a game room, a turfed playground with games and a sand pit for toddlers, and a patio.
“Generally speaking, even a family of four can’t decide where to go, so if you’re local and you want to come out and everybody gets their own thing and you have some nice space to sit around and watch the ballgame or enjoy the playground outside, we’re going to have a huge playground, turfed playground with lots of games, a sand pit for the toddlers, parents can come and sit on the patio and enjoy a drink and meal and let their kids run crazy out there and they don’t have to worry about them being loud or anything, so I think there’s a lot of reasons why it’s a great place to come and enjoy,” Eric Wallace said.
Eric and Mike Wallace are brothers and O’Fallon, Illinois, natives.
“We always talked about a place like this near the sports park would be great, because our kids grew up playing sports and I’m pretty sure after every single game — I coached baseball for a couple years — and pretty much guaranteed the first question out of my son’s mouth was where we going to eat after this,” said Mike Wallace, co-owner of The Old Base Factory.
Regional food hall growth
A recent study by a national consulting firm found food halls are rapidly growing across the U.S., with the number of food hall projects increasing 25% between 2023 and 2025.
The Foundry in midtown St. Louis has seen success with its 18 Kitchen food hall, which was named one of the top 10 food halls in the country by USA Today and attracts 25,000 people per week.
First Alert Forward recently toured the Washington Avenue food hall in downtown St. Louis, which is expected to open in October. The developer of that project hopes to create a space for residents and visitors on Washington Avenue.
O’Fallon, Illinois, is 18 miles east of downtown St. Louis.
Rawlings Pro Shop Partnership
Eric Wallace said it was important to keep vendors local. The Old Base Factory has partnered with St. Louis-based Rawlings to put a baseball pro shop inside the food hall space.
“You can come see the Rawlings Gold Glove Award and we have custom glove kiosk where you can design your own custom glove from start to finish,” said Lindsey Nabor, senior director of partnership marketing for Rawlings.
“We got wind of this project and wanted to be a part of it from the get go, and we’re going to where the athletes are, and obviously they’re here in the neighborhood with the complex across the street, so we thought it was a no brainer to partner,” Nabor said.
Partnership with Currency of Caring
The Wallaces have partnered with Currency of Caring, a nonprofit that works to feed families in underserved neighborhoods throughout the St. Louis region.
“We have done over 4,000 food trucks and I think in about 10 days we can reach 400,000 free meals. That is what generosity looks like in community, and we couldn’t be more excited that it’s going to be grounded here at the Old Base Factory,” said John Michel, founder of Currency of Caring.
Food hall customers can purchase a token for $8, which can be given to a family facing food insecurity. That family can then use the token to buy a hot meal at the food hall or other participating locations. Customers can also round up at the register to help a family in need.
“We collect all those amounts and when we reach the equivalent of 100 tokens, we then send out a free food truck to an at-risk neighborhood,” Michel said.
The food hall will employ about 30 people and will be open year-round.
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Dining and Cooking