Beale Street Bucks have paid off and they’re now giving back.
This summer, Beale Street leaders started charging $10 to enter the street after 10 p.m. on Saturday nights. It was a move to address overcrowding and safety issues there during, perhaps, the most popular time for Beale Street.
Visitors got $7 of that $10 entry fee back in the form of Beale Street Bucks, a voucher they could spend with merchants on the street for beers, burgers, barbecue, t-shirts, Elvis magnets, and everything available in Beale Street shops and restaurants.
A lawsuit was filed against the city in August to stop the program, noting that it was wrong to make citizens pay to walk on a public street and that the program made a Saturday night on Beale Street out of reach for low-to-middle income citizens. The suit was unsuccessful.
The Downtown Memphis Commission, Beale Street Merchants Association, and Beale Street Management announced this week that the Bucks program covered the cost of new security measures around Beale Street and they are donating the excess profits to local charities.
The Beale Street Gives Back initiative will give away a total of $55,000 to several local charities throughout the month of December. The recipient charities are announced each Thursday this month.
The Memphis Police Department is the fourth recipient of the Gives Back program and will be honored with a ceremony Thursday at Handy Park at 2 p.m.
