Gumby’s Pizza, a Hillsborough Street pizza establishment popular among students, received a 70.5 in a recent sanitation inspection.

The pizza restaurant was inspected in June and now posts a “C” grade from the Wake County Health Department.

Joe Sevits, a senior in computer science, said he hasn’t gone a semester without having pizza from Gumby’s. He said he’s disappointed in the latest inspection results.

“I understand that restaurants can have a bad inspection, but the problems cited seem to be from extended neglect,” Sevits said.

The store dropped nearly 20 points since its last inspection. Gumby’s received a 90 in February of last year.

Many points were lost due to equipment that was not clean or sanitized, according to the inspection report.

The report stated Gumby’s should thoroughly clean and sanitize much of the kitchen, including “the dough machine, back splash, attachment areas, lexams, lids, utensils, prep areas, etc.”

A note from the inspector on the report warned the store that much cleaning and repair is needed in the facility in order to avoid losing its restaurant permit.

Mark Brassington, the manager at Gumby’s, said he hopes for a re-inspection soon. He said the store is much cleaner now, but many needed repairs haven’t been made, which Brassington attributes to the landlord.

Despite the rundown condition of the building, only 5.5 of the 29.5 total points lost during the inspection could be credited to the building’s condition, while 12.5 points were lost to equipment- and utensil-related issues, according to the report.

Gumby’s lease runs out in January and cannot be renewed since the building is being torn down.

“The landlord is supposed to take care of the structural problems with the building,” Brassington said. “I guess when they decided to tear down the strip, they didn’t want to pay for repairs anymore.”

Brassington said he hopes to move into a new store on Hillsborough Street.

“We plan on moving out by Christmas break and moving into our new location, and having it be re-inspected,” he said.

Joe Silcox, a shift manager at Gumby’s, agreed with Brassington. He said he hopes to keep the Hillsborough St. address in order to keep customers happy.

Customer support of the establishment may be the reason why Gumby’s has not lost business since they posted their new sanitation grade, the managers said.

“Strangely enough, we seem to have had more business in the past few weeks,” he said. “Customers have been very supportive of what’s going on.”

According to Sevits, the low rating was disheartening given Gumby’s role in campus culture.

“Gumby’s doesn’t have the best pizza, but their pokey sticks are a tradition at N.C. State,” he said. “With a lot of competition in the area, their business relies strongly on word of mouth. It is disappointing they would jeopardize our health and all the good hype students have given them.”

Sevits said he would continue to order pizza from Gumby’s if the restaurant improves its sanitation rating.

“Until they do, I personally will not recommend them to any of the new freshmen,” he said.