The Roanoke Times | File September

The Roanoke City Market Building was shut down Sept. 19 because of health concerns, and all 10 vendors' licenses were yanked. The city said it has spent $49,000 cleaning and repairing the site.

Officials said Tuesday they're working to reopen the Roanoke City Market building as soon as possible, but members of the city council are discussing a plan that could close the downtown anchor by as early as March for more extensive renovations.

Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham told council members the city has spent more than $49,000 cleaning and repairing the market building since it was shut down Sept. 19. That figure includes work done in the common areas and vendor stalls.

The closure occurred after the Virginia Department of Health yanked all 10 vendors' licenses because inspectors found live mice, dead mice, mouse droppings and evidence of related food contamination.

Burcham said that leases hold vendors responsible for maintaining their own stalls. Although all but two vendors have accepted the city's offer to help them clean their spaces, Burcham said they will be billed for the work.

She said that city staffers have worked until 2 a.m. on some nights in an effort to get the building ready for reopening. Burcham said she has suggested that vendors come up with some sort of event to celebrate the eventual reopening and promised that she and Dr. Stephanie Harper, who directs the Virginia Department of Health's Roanoke and Alleghany districts, will eat lunch there that day.

Mayor David Bowers said the market building's closure was a blow to Roanokers, but he encouraged people to maintain hope.

"To me it's very much like 9/11, I guess, in the sense that you had this catastrophe and people had to have hope after it," Bowers said.

Meanwhile, the council considered an idea that could accelerate large-scale renovations to the market building. Early last month, it rejected a proposal that would have shifted the building away from its current function as a food court toward an emphasis on retail products and a classic "market" experience. The council also instructed Burcham to issue a new request for proposals to renovate and manage the market building.

But on Tuesday, some council members suggested the city might renovate the building without seeking an outside company to handle the project. Councilmen David Trinkle and Court Rosen said that approach would be cost-effective and allow the city to retain control of the building, with the option to issue a later request for management proposals.

Burcham seemed to agree.

"If the council is committed to a major renovation of the market building, I think the city ought to be in control of that process rather than farm it out to someone else," she said.

The council didn't make any binding decision Tuesday. Instead, Burcham said the city will continue with already planned customer surveys once the market building reopens. City staffers will then offer up several designs for the building to council members, who would receive more public input before making a decision.

Burcham said the council still needs to address the "unanswered question" of how the building will be used in the future. Council members seem to agree that they'd like to convert the upper floor into a room that could be rented for weddings, banquets or charity events. But there doesn't seem to be any firm consensus about the mezzanine and ground floor.

If the council ultimately decides to move forward with a city-driven renovation, officials would likely shift vendor leases from one-year agreements to a month-to-month basis. At the very earliest, the market building would close for renovations by March 1, she said.

Bill Carder, executive director of Downtown Roanoke Inc., said Tuesday he was excited to hear that the city might move quickly to launch major renovations.

"That's outstanding," he said. "That's what needs to happen."

DRI, a nonprofit, downtown development organization, helped the Coalition for the Roanoke City Market draft the market building response that the council eventually rejected.

But on Tuesday, Carder said DRI and the coalition will do whatever they can to foster city-led renovations.

"We would be supportive in any way we could," Carder said. "What we put together was a concept, and if the city is moving toward a design, that's great."

Tuesday's council discussion included general comments, but no specific ideas, about how the city might help food court vendors survive during a major renovation.

Anita Wilson, co-owner of Burger in the Square, said Tuesday she preferred not to comment on the renovations approach discussed by the council during its retreat. The business' lease with the city expires Feb. 28, she said.

mason.adams@roanoke.com 981-3253

duncan.adams@roanoke.com 981-3324