ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said he is unhappy with the state of Campustown – which he said is hurting ISU enrollment – in an address to members of the Ames Rotary Club on Monday.

He said an imminent expansion to Welch Avenue of bikini bar Dangerous Curves, 111 Fifth St., is “simply one more detraction” to the area.

“If you look over a several block area, it’s just not what I would call a very attractive front door for the university,” Geoffroy said after the meeting.

He said other detractions from Campustown include tattoo parlors and trash strewn around the area.

“In part, it’s just that if you walk down the sidewalk, just look down at the sidewalk. It’s just not an appealing ambiance,” Geoffroy said, adding that it looks like there is “decades of chewing gum” built up on the sidewalk.

He said Campustown could be improved with the construction of businesses such as restaurants, student-friendly businesses like Copyworks, 105 Welch Ave., and boutiques, which he added do not seem to do well in the area.

Dangerous Curves owner Jeremy Boekelman said his business should provide more entertainment options in Campustown and draw students to the university by providing an expanded night life and a more “urban, metropolitan” feel.

“If the city of Ames and the university understood the need for more entertainment options, such as Dangerous Curves, for students, I believe it would actually increase enrollment,” Boekelman said. “I actually believe that the majority of students are, if not in favor of Dangerous Curves, at least agree that it won’t hurt Campustown.”

No specific plans have been formulated yet by the university or the city to change the face of Campustown.

In his speech to the rotary club, Geoffroy said he is having ongoing discussions with Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco and members of the Ames City Council and said most have been supportive of his position.

When contacted for comment, Tedesco said he did not hear the speech and declined to comment on Geoffroy’s view of the current state of Campustown.

Geoffroy said although he has no specific plans to clean up Campustown, it remains an important topic of discussion.

“It’s a topic that I know we will continue to discuss with Mayor Tedesco and City Manager Steve Schainker,” he said.

Schainker said revitalizing Campustown will be the city’s next goal after the revitalization of downtown is completed – this week’s downtown charrette is kicking off the effort by generating ideas on what directions the revitalization could take. He said discussions about changes to Campustown could tentatively take place “hopefully within the next year or two.”

Angela Groh, president for the Government of the Student Body, said discussions of revitalizing Campustown “will be an issue that comes up this year within the Government of the Student Body.”

“With this year’s theme of ‘One Community,’ it’s the perfect time to really look into the issue of how Campustown, number one, affects students enrollment and affects student life at Iowa State,” Groh said.

Groh said possible ideas for improvement she has heard include creating a pedestrian mall on Welch Avenue, cleaning up the appearance of the area and expanding entertainment options.

She said a Dangerous Curves on Welch Avenue, however, is not the best option for expanding entertainment.

“I think there are better uses of that space that would be more beneficial to students and recruitment,” Groh said.

She said discussions have been going on for some time, and the issue was discussed by the Veishea Commission last year.

“I don’t think this is anything new that has come up,” Groh said.

Schainker said the process of changing Campustown will probably involve discussions between the city, university and Campustown users and occupants and would most likely involve outside consultants.