The potential future for the Roanoke City Market Building literally rests in the hands of city officials.

The city's purchasing department received two responses Monday to its request for proposals for someone to renovate and manage the market building, a landmark in downtown Roanoke that nearly everyone agrees needs a major makeover.

As expected, the Coalition for the Roanoke City Market, a group working with Downtown Roanoke Inc., submitted a proposal. The coalition includes the Western Virginia Foundation for the Arts and Sciences and the Roanoke Foundation for Downtown.

The other submitter was Froehling & Robertson, an international engineering firm based in Richmond. Company officials could not be reached for comment Monday.

At this point, the proposals are not available for public scrutiny. The city will review the submittals and then initiate negotiations if indicated, according to Brian Townsend, assistant city manager for community development.

Sharon Gentry, the city's purchasing manager, said RFP submittals are valid for 60 days.

"I don't foresee it taking that long" to review the market building proposals, she said.

Bill Carder, executive director of DRI, said the coalition's proposal was about 100 pages. He said it will incorporate some of the ideas suggested by a recent study from the Project for Public Spaces, as well as concepts included in a previous study of the Roanoke City Market and the building itself.

"We are just really excited about the future of this building and of the whole market," Carder said.

He said the coalition's proposal follows guidelines suggested by the request for proposals, including a recommendation that food court vendors and other current market building tenants be given consideration during renovations.

"We've been talking to the vendors since Day One," he said.

Carder would not comment about the total costs of renovation estimated by the coalition's proposal. Those figures will be relevant during negotiations with the city, he said.

Submitters were asked to detail how they would renovate and manage the building.

Developer Bill Chapman of Richmond-based Bill Chapman Enterprises did not submit a proposal. He had said he was considering doing so.

Chapman said he had envisioned a "select group of tenants" for the building but said those prospects told him they were not ready to expand.

The market building's future has been a source of controversy, especially among many food court vendors worried about how their businesses will be affected during renovations.