‘The work is working’: Leaders want Memphians to get back downtown amid task force deployment, highlight upcoming events

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - It’s been roughly three weeks since the Memphis Safe Task Force began, and now downtown leaders want Memphians to get back to the area that makes the city thrive.

Officials from the Downtown Memphis Commission and Memphis Tourism say now is the time to become a tourist in the Bluff City.

“Go and find a new favorite restaurant,” Memphis Tourism’s Kevin Kern said. “There are some folks who could really use your business.”

While there’s been some skepticism since the Memphis Safe Task Force and National Guard arrived, Kern is encouraging Memphians to love on their city, especially downtown.

“Downtown is the heartbeat of any urban center,” he said. “Memphis is just like any other city across America; it has a great downtown, so having visitors, locals and residents downtown is very important. And while there are some folks who are downtown these days that are patrolling the streets, those are additive to the resources already in place by the Memphis Police Department.”

Action News 5 also heard from the Downtown Memphis Commission about the Memphis Safe Task Force and National Guard presence.

“We’ve heard some businesses/residents encouraged by having the National Guard here,” DMC President and CEO Chandell Ryan said. “We have heard that some, you know, have questions, but what we need right now is for people to show up in downtown and support businesses.”

Ryan says she’s ready to see a full downtown again.

“Downtown is safe,” Ryan said. “We have work to do, but we are partnering with all of the right people to bring on the results that we’re seeing. The work is working, so it is a safe place for everyone to come.”

But one tourist said the presence of the National Guard was off-putting for him.

“[It’s] not a very nice face of America,” Tomasz Pustowka said.

Pustowka and his wife stopped in Memphis after leaving Chicago for a marathon he ran last Sunday.

The couple is from Poland and visited the National Civil Rights Museum.

“[It’s a] great place, such history, very important for your country,” Pustowka said.

But he says he hoped to see a more vibrant Beale Street.

Kern tells Action News 5 that Memphis welcomes more than 13 million visitors a year, but he hopes Memphians will return to the heart of the city.

“It’s a great time to explore, especially with this being the fall break season,” Kern said. “Get downtown! See all sorts of museums, whether it’s the Bellz Museum, the Rock N’ Soul Museum, Fire Museum. There are a lot of things to do downtown, there are some hidden gems that residents of Memphis and Shelby County and the Mid-South may not know about.”

The Memphis Madness: Ballin on Beale Event is scheduled for Thursday on Beale Street from 6-8 p.m.

The Freedom Awards are also on Thursday at the Orpheum Theatre downtown.

And RiverArtsFest is October 18-19 on Riverside Drive along the Mississippi River.

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