First night of Beale’s $10 cover gets mixed reaction

Barbara Card didn’t mind the $10 nearly as much as standing in line for 20 minutes on a muggy night.

“We started getting thirsty!” she said just after she and her two companions got through the security checkpoint Saturday night at Beale and B.B. King Boulevard.

They were among the first through the gate after a new $10 cover charge went into effect at 10 p.m. Card, along with Ronnie and Alysha Good, took the charge in stride, looking forward to redeeming the $7 vouchers they got in return to help satisfy their thirst.

They were more understanding than many. Several others who had waited, only to find out they’d have to pay just to get on the street, stormed away and said they wouldn’t be back.

“That’s fine, I can spend my money somewhere else,” yelled a man who identified himself as being from Dallas but wouldn’t give his name as he walked away after arguing with the security guard.

The $10 cover charge to enter the Beale Street Entertainment District is touted as a way to make the area safer in the wake of some highly publicized violent incidents. Those paying get most of it back in the form of a $7 voucher that can be used at any district merchant. The remaining $3 covers the cost of administering the program.

Saturday’s first run of the 10 p.m. cover charge comes a week after Memphis Police Officer Verdell Smith was killed when he was struck by the car of a suspect fleeing three Downtown shootings.

Plans for added safety measures were already in the works before the June 4 bedlam, however. Back-to-back stampedes on Beale in May had city and Downtown leaders looking for ways to keep visitors secure.