Courtesy Virginia Department of Health

Droppings, droppings everywhere.

And worse.

Inspection records released Tuesday evening by the Virginia Department of Health and the Alleghany/Roanoke City Health Districts describe, in stomach-churning detail, evidence of mice and, in some cases, the contamination of foods at vendor stalls inside the Roanoke City Market Building.

At one food court stall, a live mouse ran across a health inspector's foot. A dead mouse decayed nearby.

On Friday, citing evidence of mice and related food contamination, VDH yanked the licenses of all food court vendors operating in the increasingly rundown, city-owned building, which remains closed. The city closed the building.

Some food stalls were worse than others, but evidence of widespread and active infestation was discovered at every one. Many featured building defects that could offer mice ready entry.

"There were lots of holes in walls nobody knew about," City Manager Darlene Burcham said.

Flies, alive and dead, were a problem too at many of the small businesses.

At Tavern on the Market, according to documents, inspectors observed, among other problems, a mouse pellet in direct contact with deli meat and sliced cheese "covered with large numbers of rodent excreta pellets."

A dead mouse was discovered beneath a sink at the tavern. Inspections, conducted Sept. 16 and on Friday, found numerous other violations, including the observation of three dead flies in a bucket of pickles.

An ambitious cleanup and other repairs are under way. Neither health nor city officials will speculate about when the building and food sales businesses will reopen.

At New York Subs, according to VDH, the inspection on Friday found rodent droppings in "multiple locations" and a dead mouse. The same was true at the Paradiso Cuban Restaurant.

At Chico's Big Lick Pizza, "a live mouse was observed in the dishwashing area of the establishment and ran across the environmental health specialist's foot during the inspection" on Sept. 16. The inspector found a dead mouse and droppings in many places, including beneath the front counter and "on the back of the marble-topped counter where pizzas are made."

Burcham said Tuesday that she has been impressed by the vendors' efforts to remedy problems at their stalls, saying she hopes the public will understand the "sweat equity" expended.

Burcham said there has not been discussion about whether vendors will receive some form of compensation or pro-rated rent for the days and dollars lost to the shutdown and the cleanup.

"The emphasis needs to be that we're taking care of the problem," she said, referencing work by the vendors, by painting, plumbing and electrical contractors, and city workers.