Oct. 3--The mice that managed to shut down 10 eateries inside downtown Roanoke's historic City Market Building for the past two weeks appear to be gone, city officials say, so patrons could be welcomed back as early as tomorrow.

The building, home to 10 food vendors, a shared dining area and sundry retail shops, has been shut down since Sept. 19. That's when inspectors with the Virginia Department of Health found evidence of mice at all 10 of the eateries, which usually draw lunchtime crowds.

The city has spent about $50,000 and crews have labored into the night over the past two weeks to get rid of the rodents.

Yesterday, Robert Parker, spokesman for the health department, said inspectors will search the building today and, if all goes well, reinstate the 10 permits the department yanked when the mice were first discovered.

"There's really, really been a lot of hard work to bring this back into compliance," Parker said. "We're in what we hope are the final stages of bringing everybody back."

The City Market Building, built in 1922, is the center of downtown bustle on weekdays, with shoppers and office workers and guests from the nearby Hotel Roanoke streaming into the building for lunch. The eateries are also open for business on Saturday.

Melinda Mayo, spokeswoman for the city, said the eateries bring Roanoke more than $4,500 a month in meals tax revenue -- a cash stream that has been cut off since the building's shutdown. She said that, pending a successful inspection today, the building will reopen at 8 a.m. tomorrow.

Mayo said the city has used the down time to do cosmetic work and make some repairs on the inside of the building. The building could be closed again next year to give crews a chance to do more extensive work. Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.

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