Photos courtesy Virginia Department of Health

Last week, the Virginia Department of Health photographed meat, cheese and a bag that had been chewed through at the market building.

Photos courtesy Virginia Department of Health

Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

The Roanoke City Market Building has been closed for renovations and a thorough cleaning after mice were found.

One food court vendor in the Roanoke City Market Building likened the latest flurry of activity to the final rounds of a prize fight in which both boxers remain standing.

"There will be a decision made" about the building's future, said Dean Crump of Nuts & Sweet Things.

Crump is one of 10 food vendors whose license to operate inside the market building was suspended Friday by the Virginia Department of Health after inspectors found live mice, dead mice, mouse droppings and evidence of related food contamination.

It's the latest controversy in a long drama.

Food vendors have complained for years that city officials have locked them in limbo -- leaving them to wonder whether their leases would be renewed and whether they would survive a major market building makeover.

City officials recently rejected a proposal to renovate the building.

The food vendors find themselves now in a different sort of limbo.

On Tuesday, neither health officials nor City Manager Darlene Burcham would speculate about when the building might reopen.

"We're not going to bring the building back before it's ready," Burcham said.

All reports suggest that the license suspensions are temporary and will be lifted once VDH is convinced an ambitious cleaning of the market building and related work have removed the threat of food contamination by mice.

Meanwhile, both Crump and David "Chico" Estrada, owner of Chico's Big Lick Pizza, said they and other food vendors in the building will attend a public hearing scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

The meeting will solicit opinions and ideas, from vendors and the public, about the future of the city-owned, 86-year-old downtown landmark.

And both said the health department's action could inject another dose of urgency into that debate, encouraging city officials to move more quickly to define the building's future.

In an e-mail, Councilman David Trinkle offered similar observations.

"It puts all the more pressure, which is fully appropriate, to figure out the best long-term solution to bringing the market building into the future," Trinkle wrote.

"It has been an impetus to get things moving. I'm hoping some good will ultimately come out of it."

Trinkle and Burcham said they hope the public hearing will provide a forum for people who care about the building -- and not just those who operate businesses there.

"I'm hoping it doesn't completely usurp the suggestions we hear from the public," Trinkle said.

The food court typically attracts a good lunch-hour crowd.

Tuesday, word about the building's closing obviously had spread. Few people tried the door.

On Campbell Avenue, Steve Godkin, general manager for nearby Blues BBQ, encouraged passers-by to try his restaurant as an alternative to the food court.

"This time yesterday, my restaurant was full," Godkin said.

Downtown resident Kevin Devine accepted a flier from Godkin. He said he regularly eats at the food court and will return once health officials give an all-clear.

He said he loves Roanoke and frequently tells friends "how great it is." But Devine said the deterioration of the market building "is embarrassing for the city."

Crump said vendors have been working long hours to clean their small selling areas.

"We're in there showing our good faith," he said. "We want to get this back open."

Estrada said vendors share some of the responsibility for the mice.

"I must admit, all of us are at fault," he said. "We haven't pulled the equipment out and done cleaning behind it."

Brian Reid, a cook for Tavern on the Market, said he's not seen mice but has seen evidence that they had been there.

"You might see some droppings," Reid said.

But Estrada emphasized that mice are not confined downtown only to eateries in the market building.

"It's a problem every restaurant has," Estrada said.

Godkin said he has seen no evidence of mice inside Blues BBQ, which has been open about a year.

"We have a clean place," he said.

VDH said it pulled the food court licenses after finding evidence of food contamination by mice and not simply the presence of mice.

Burcham said the city will require regular cleanings of the building and is working with the health department to line up a more aggressive inspection schedule in coming months.

Mayor David Bowers said he hopes the market building will reopen before the Oct. 4 Harvest Festival downtown.

"Both the tenants and the city want this to be a regrettable memory soon," Bowers said.