Mall's Balls Repaired, Put to Pasture in Fridley

You may have seen them at the Mall of America: Giant, shiny red, silver, blue and white balls in their original pyramid in front of the mall, or hanging from the ceiling at Christmas time.

Weighing 500 pounds each and measuring seven feet across, the original 26 Christmas ornaments used as the pyramid were in pretty ratty condition after a Minnesota winter.

The owner of JB Millwork in Fridley, Jason Beckman, had done custom work at the Mall before, so he was the go-to guy to repair and refurbish the big balls.

He fixed, repainted and returned 17 of the balls to the mall, but designers there so far haven't shown interest in having the same work done on at 140 Osborne Rd.

"I don't know what will happen to them," Beckman said. "I'm waiting on directions from the mall."

JB Millwork (763-259-0232) works on other things besides gigantic Christmas ornaments. They are available for custom residential remodeling as well as retail and trade show exhibits.