Entry No. 36 — the Buffalo file — filed under: records
The Old Chapel Antique & Artisan Market
Ascension Church served North Tonawanda from 1894 until the Diocese of Buffalo consolidated it out of existence in 2007; a decade later, lifelong locals Jacob and Jennifer Wankasky leased the building and filled it with vendor stalls. Jacob was an altar boy here, his parents were married here, and his grandfather's funeral was held here, which makes him an unusually invested landlord for the well-over-a-hundred antique and artisan vendors now trading under the original stained glass. The 6,500 square feet hold the expected furniture, collectibles, and decor plus handmade goods from local makers, and the operation has already spilled into a second building. It's open every day of the week, which is not a claim most former churches can make.
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The story
Ascension Church went up on Robinson Street in 1894 and served North Tonawanda until the Diocese of Buffalo's parish consolidation closed it in 2007. It sat. Then, about eight years ago, Jacob and Jennifer Wankasky leased the building and started renting out its floor by the booth. Jacob's connection to the place is not an angle he invented afterwards: "I was an altar boy here, my parents were married here, my grandfather's funeral was here."
What they built inside is 6,500 square feet of independent stalls under the original cathedral ceilings and stained glass. The vendor count is the one number nobody agrees on — published figures run from 80 to 130 to over 160 to more than 200, which is less a contradiction than a description of how a co-op of small sellers actually breathes across a year. Wankasky's own framing is that roughly 200 family businesses depend on the building. The merchandise splits between genuine antiques, furniture, collectibles, décor and vinyl on one side and handmade artisan work on the other, and the two are shelved on the same aisles. The Mad Irons Creperie operates inside, doing sweet, savory and breakfast crepes plus coffee, which is a thing the building has never done before.
Reopening a closed parish as retail could easily have been crass. It isn't, mostly because the person doing it grew up in the pews and the neighborhood knows it. "There's literally been people in tears who have come in here," Wankasky told WKBW about locals walking the floor for the first time since 2007. One vendor's verdict on the space is three words long: "It's the perfect setting." The market is open every day of the week, ten to six, year round — a schedule the building never kept as a church.
What it's like
Browsing is free and the doors are open 10 to 6 every day, with parking on site, so there is no ticket, no tour and no fixed route. You come in under the old ceiling into a floor of booths, and the building does most of the atmospheric work while the stock ranges from properly old to made-last-week. Each stall is a different seller, which means the pricing logic changes every ten feet and whether you can haggle is a booth-by-booth question; checkout is central rather than stall by stall. Turnover is real, so a return visit in two months is effectively a different store. Give it an hour at minimum, two if you stop for a crepe. Don't roll in at 5:45 and expect to see the place.
The move: Arrive by 4 pm (doors close at 6), split up at the door, and each hunt down the single strangest sub-$20 object in the building — reconvene under the stained glass to judge, then drive five minutes to Webster Street's restaurant row for dinner with your trophies on the table.
📍 Before you go Open daily 10 am–6 pm, free to browse, with on-site parking. Vendor turnover means the stock genuinely changes week to week; recent counts run from 130 to over 200 stalls depending on the season. About 25 minutes from downtown Buffalo, a few blocks off the Niagara River.
- 📍 North Tonawanda
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 172 Robinson St, North Tonawanda, NY 14120
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum — Practically around the corner on Thompson Street — the other North Tonawanda building that outlived its original purpose, except this one still runs two antique carousels, including the 1916 Number One Special carved and assembled on that floor.
- Riviera Theatre — Half a mile down at 67 Webster Street, and the natural evening half of the day: the market closes at 6, the 1926 Showplace of the Tonawandas and its Mighty Wurlitzer take it from there, with dinner on Webster in between.
- Buffalo Religious Arts Center — About seven miles south in Black Rock and the sharpest available contrast — the other answer to Western New York's closed churches, where a former St. Francis Xavier holds salvaged statuary and stained glass as a collection instead of renting the floor out by the stall; call ahead, it's tours by appointment only.
More weird in Buffalo
Good to know
What does it cost, and when is it open?
Free to walk in and browse; you only pay for what you buy. Open daily, 10 am to 6 pm, year round — unusual for an antique market of this size, and the reason it works as a rainy-Sunday plan. It's at 172 Robinson Street, North Tonawanda, with parking on site; the market's listed phone is 716-545-6102.
How many vendors are there, and is it worth going back?
Depends who's counting and when: sources have published 80, over 130, over 160 and more than 200. The spread is the point — these are independent booths run by small sellers, and stock rotates constantly, so the place you visited in spring is not the place you'll visit in November.
Is there food on site?
Yes. The Mad Irons Creperie operates inside the market with sweet, savory and breakfast crepes and coffee, so you don't have to break the visit to eat. Webster Street's restaurant row is about half a mile away if you want a proper dinner afterwards.
What was the building before this?
Ascension Church, built in 1894 and closed in 2007 when the Diocese of Buffalo consolidated parishes. The cathedral ceilings and original stained-glass windows are still in place — the church shell was kept, and the booths were built inside it rather than the other way around.
What else is within walking distance?
The Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum is a few minutes away on Thompson Street, and the Riviera Theatre and Webster Street are about half a mile; the Niagara River is a few blocks off. The market also anchors an annual outdoor art festival on the street between Schenck and Robinson, with dozens of artist vendors, live music and food.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: wkbw.com · niagarafallsusa.com
last checked: 2026-08-25