Two new bars have opened in Campustown in recent weeks: The Library, on Welch Avenue, and Five1Fifth, on Lincoln Way. Earlier this year, two more bars had opened — Cafe Mood in December and Club Blow in November — but the Campustown Action Association is not concerned about the high turnover in the bar scene.

“There is nothing new about new bars coming to Campustown,” said Ryan Jeffrey, vice president of Campustown Action Association. “We do not think that new bars coming to Campustown are bad for business because there were bars in those locations before.”

One major initiative of the CAA has been to create a Cleanliness Pledge, an unofficial pledge that many of Campustown businesses, including bar owners, have signed, pledging to keep the areas outside and around their businesses tidy. 

“Five1Fifth is different because we are bringing a higher standard bar, which has friendlier staff and that wants to bring people in Ames the type of bar they have been looking for,” said Michael Petersen, the 21-year-old owner of Five1Fifth.