Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

A vendor at the Roanoke City Market tapes a makeshift "closed" sign to the Salem Avenue entrance door of the building.

The food court in the Roanoke City Market Building is closed because of rodents.

The city-owned food court's failure to open Saturday was something of a daylong mystery and the latest twist in recent discussions of the future of the 86-year-old building and its food court. The talk has taken on fresh urgency as the brand-new, nationally touted Taubman Museum of Art, just across Salem Avenue, prepares to open in November.

Would-be customers peered into windows. City officials offered general statements about "fall cleaning" and "possible violations." Workers carried 2-by-4s and other construction materials into the market building and said they'd been told not to talk about what was going on. Vendors said they didn't want to talk because it might jeopardize their businesses.

But on Saturday evening, Virginia health department spokesman Robert Parker confirmed that licenses for all 10 food court vendors were pulled after an inspection Friday found "a rodent control problem."

Parker said that because the vendors share the building's large interior room, all licenses had to be pulled because of the problem. He said he did not have information about exactly what type of rodents were in the building, or where they were found.

The vendors are not allowed to sell food without licenses. Parker said it would be up to the property manager -- the city -- to invite inspectors back to see if licenses can be restored.

Parker said the city seemed to be responding immediately to the rodent problem, with workers in the building today.

Signs posted on exterior doors said "Closed for Fall Cleaning," language that City Manager Darlene Burcham echoed in a statement that the market had shut down for a fall cleanup.

"During this time the food vendors and the city will address cleanliness and cosmetic issues such as first-floor painting that cannot be done when the building is open to the public. The market building ... has operated continuously for many years without any downtime for such activity," Burcham said.

She added, "The temporary closure was mutually agreed to by the vendors and the city. The food court will reopen as soon as all required items have been completed."

Burcham's statement was delivered to reporters by spokeswoman Melinda Mayo, who said she could not comment on why vendors or workers were told not to speak about the cleanup or if businesses were being compensated for lost sales during the closing. Mayor David Bowers could not be contacted Saturday.

Among members of city council, only Sherman Lea could be reached for comment on the market, saying, "There were concerns about possible violations. I think the city and the vendors are working to clear things up."

Reports from recent health department inspections prior to Friday's indicated several violations less serious than rodents including wall and ceiling problems.

Ken Bray of the Creations Art Gallery & Gift Shoppe, which has an interior door into the food court but also an outside door to the sidewalk, said he was glad that after years of asking, the food court wall nearest his door was going to get painted. Like several other businesses with outside doors, Creations was open Saturday.

But restaurants, such as Tavern on the Market, were closed. A sign on the tavern's exterior said "Closed for Painting. Will Re-Open Monday."

Concerns about the market building's dilapidated condition and lack of upkeep have fueled recent speculation about vendors' place -- or lack of a place --in city plans for a market makeover. Throughout the summer the city has been sprucing up the building, repairing bathrooms and applying exterior paint.

But vendors worried that a city request for proposals for more substantial restorations and for an outside management agreement could change the use of the building and force them out. Earlier this month, the city rejected the one proposal it received after Burcham advised council members, who had not yet read the proposal, that it did not meet the city's requirements.

The proposal came from a coalition of businesses. On Saturday, Bill Carder, executive director of Downtown Roanoke Inc., which helped prepare the proposal, said his organization is waiting for the city to reissue its request so that Downtown Roanoke and the coalition can try again.