WATERVILLE — Mice were the culprit prompting Governor’s Restaurant & Bakery on Main Street to close temporarily. That was the word Thursday from Jason Clay, who owns several Governor’s locations across the state.

He said the 376 Main St. restaurant is in an old building that dates back to the 1960s and mice were discovered in the banquet room on the ground level. The mice chewed their way up to the dining room and were seen running across the floor, which triggered a health inspection earlier this week.

“We’re working with the state and pest control and we’ll have it sanitized and cleaned,” Clay said.

He said he wants to make sure everything is safe and taken care of before reopening the restaurant. The goal is to open back up Friday, probably for dinner service, he said.

He revealed the nature of the problem as he wanted to be be transparent about why the eatery closed temporarily, Clay said.

“We want to make sure people can trust us,” he said. “Safety is our No. 1 priority.”

The Waterville Governor’s notified customers of the closure by posting on its social media site.

“We want to be clear: we are taking immediate corrective action and working with licensed professionals to ensure the situation is fully resolved,” the message says. “Guest safety is a core value for us, and we won’t reopen until we meet and exceed every requirement. We appreciate your patience and can’t wait to welcome you back soon.”

The eatery, adjacent to the Interstate 95 off ramp, posted a note on its door that states, “Due to unexpected maintenance, we will be closed until further notice.”

Dan Bradstreet, Waterville’s director of code enforcement, building, plumbing and electrical inspections, said Wednesday in an email his office was not involved with the closure. “It may have been a directive from the State Health Inspector’s Office unless it was a voluntary closure for a maintenance issue.”

Besides its Waterville location, Governor’s has restaurants in Lewiston, Old Town, Bangor, Presque Isle and Ellsworth.

State Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Lindsay Hammes did not return a request for comment Wednesday.