After nearly 20 years as a food court business in the Roanoke City Market Building, Chico's Big Lick Pizza appears to be the first casualty of the long-running and sometimes bitter debate about the building's future.

Memo to Roanoke Mayor David Bowers: Chico is not happy.

David "Chico" Estrada said he's had enough of the lackluster maintenance of the city-owned and managed building. He said he's sick of operating in prolonged limbo. He said other revenue-slashing influences include lingering stigma from a widely publicized mouse infestation and other health code violations discovered among food vendors, including Chico's, in the building during the fall.

He said his business is off about 50 percent compared with last year.

Bowers said Thursday night that he's "heartbroken" over Estrada's decision.

"The city has obviously bungled this market building for some time," said Bowers, who retook the mayor's office in July. "I ran on the promise to get that building up and running. It wasn't going to take just a day or a week -- and we've had some setbacks."

Like the other vendors in the building, Chico's lease expires at the end of February, when the city will mandate month-to-month leases.

On Monday, he set up a chalkboard. On Thursday, neatly written figures informed customers that Chico's business would be open 45 more days. Today, make that 44.

"It's mostly for my customers. Instead of going to every one to tell them I'm leaving, I have the sign. It's basically my farewell," he said.

"Since that sign has been up, two different people have read it and cried," Estrada said.

He said he will take time off before deciding whether to reopen elsewhere.

Anita Wilson, co-owner of Burger in the Square, has long fought for the interests of fellow food court vendors.

"I really don't want to see Chico go, because he's been an icon downtown forever," she said.

Wilson said other vendors are suffering too.

"I know he's not going to be the only business that's leaving," she said.

Estrada said his business endured the city's shutdown of the building in September after health inspectors found signs of mouse infestation as well as food storage or handling problems at the 10 food court vendors.

Vendors lost revenues during the two-week shutdown and a lingering stigma has shredded lunch business, they said.

At the time of the shutdown, Estrada said vendors shared in the blame for the health code violations. But he and others blasted the city for what they described as its failure to adequately maintain the historic building or arrange sufficient exterminating.

And in spite of long-standing pleas from vendors, some of them say the city has not -- to their satisfaction -- promised them that they will be included in the plans when and if the building is renovated. A number of vendors believe the city wants them gone.

Debate continues among city leaders about how to renovate and operate the market building. A split city council decided this week that it will move toward paying up to $160,000 for another consultant's study on the market. This one -- as compared with a $100,000 study already done on the historic market area including the market building -- is necessary because it will deal with more specific plans for the building itself, council members have said.

During the swirl of controversy accompanying the September shutdown, Bowers said he would be happy about the building's status if Chico was happy.

He's not.

Bowers said Thursday he's hopeful a construction project of some sort will start at the market building later this year.

"I was hopeful that Chico and Anita and [another market vendor] Zorba and all the others were going to be there in the victory lap with us. I guess as mayor, I've got to say hey, thank you for being with us for so many years. I'm sorry you're going. And if your decision is firm about going, then we hope that you'll come back real soon."

Estrada anticipates feeling a kick in the gut when he slides the last pizza from the oven at his small restaurant stall inside the market building.

"I'm an emotional person, so I'm sure the last day I'm here I'll need a box of Kleenex."

Staff writer Mason Adams contributed to this story.