For those of you Iowa Staters who are 21 or older, when was the last time you saw a person in a wheelchair at a bar in Ames? In my one semester of 21-ness I can’t remember seeing one wheelchair at an Ames bar. Maybe it’s because Ames bars, for the most part, are not accessible to persons with permanent or temporary disabilities.

Last weekend, a friend of mine who lives in Minneapolis came to Ames for the weekend. While deciding which bar to go to is always a pressing question, this weekend a new consideration weighed upon our decision. We had to find a place where my friend, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound, could wheel herself in for a couple of beers.

After “researching” some of the Ames hot-spots Wednesday night, I found out that, excluding People’s Bar & Grill, Campustown bars are not wheelchair-friendly. If you are confined to a wheelchair, here’s what you will find, or have already found, at bars in Campustown:

Cy’s Roost & Don’s Deli, the home of Wednesday night buck burgers, is wheelchair accessible only through the back door of the bar. The owner of Cy’s said they would need to know if a patron in a wheelchair were coming so they could unlock the back door and shovel the entrance.

But once you’ve gained entrance, don’t drink too many pints of beer, because neither the men’s nor women’s restrooms are wheelchair equipped. The owner said Cy’s would like to expand the restrooms, but there’s not enough room in the bar. Well, I guess you could always get a stamp on your hand, wheel yourself back out the back door and use the nearby Subway bathrooms. But then you’ve broken the seal and who knows what may happen …

Don’t even try to get up to the rustic, but cool, Lost ‘N’ Found Lounge, because, unless you have strong friends willing to lift you up the long flight of stairs, you will find entrance impossible.

About a block north of Cy’s is Welch Ave. Station, a bar with a big television that’s great for watching Cyclone basketball games. If you want to come watch the game, and you are confined to a wheelchair, call ahead and they will let you use the back entrance ramp. Once again, don’t drink too much — the restrooms are not big enough for a wheelchair, nor are they equipped with handrails.

The Dean’s List, one of the bump ‘n’ grind headquarters of Ames, does have a wheelchair ramp on the west side of the building. But those people interested in grooving will have to do it on the main level because the dance floor, and equally important restroom, are located up flights of stairs.

The Dean’s List is, however, better than Tazzles, which is accessible only by stairs.

People’s Bar & Grill is the only Campustown bar with a front entrance that is wheelchair accessible. People’s restrooms are also wheelchair equipped with larger stalls and handrails.

People’s Bar & Grill is a classy bar that brings popular and up-and-coming bands to Ames. (And they have great cherry Cokes.) But People’s consideration for wheelchair-bound patrons sets it apart from other Ames watering holes that do not make these provisions a priority.

According to Ames building codes, new buildings must be accessible to people with disabilities, said Dwight Kramer, and Ames electrical inspector. However, public buildings built before codes were instituted do not have to meet these regulations, unless they choose to remodel the facilities.

Before Ames will grant permits for remodeling, business owners must prove their businesses will be handicapped accessible. So, for the older bars in Ames, it is not illegal for them to be inaccessible to people with disabilities.

There are several reasons why a bar wouldn’t want to remodel to cater to wheelchair-bound customers. Most Ames bars are small and would find it tough to find room to expand their facilities to suit patrons in wheelchairs. Also, the lack of wheelchair-bound people one sees out at the bars in Ames may cause some bar owners to think there is not a need for the adjustment. Bar owners may not see a pressing need to bring in more customers when their bars are making plenty of money from the existing clientele of thirsty students.

But the reasons Campustown bars should consider remodeling outweigh the reasons against. Currently, people in wheelchairs can’t go to just any bar. They must choose a bar with a ramp or an elevator. They then have to make special arrangements with bar employees to enter some bars through the back doors. Once inside most Campustown bars, wheelchair-bound patrons cannot use the restrooms.

While Campustown bars are not breaking the law by excluding people with disabilities, they are alienating a section of the public and isolating wheelchair-bound students from their peers.

Campustown bars could establish special entrance ramps or small elevators with minimal expense. In addition, how many Campustown bars couldn’t benefit from remodeling their restrooms? It is time for Campustown bar owners to use a little compassion and a little creativity to think of ways to make their businesses handicapped and wheelchair accessible.

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Erin Walter is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.