VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach’s infamous “no cursing” signs will get new life as essentially a big swear jar.
No, not in the technical sense, but they’ll be auctioned off later this year to help raise funds for a local police charity. Virginia Beach City Council unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday to donate the signs to the Virginia Beach Police Foundation, a nonprofit separate from the police force that funds several initiatives, including helping families of injured and sick officers.
About 30 signs remain in the city’s possession after they were taken down in May of 2019, just after the first Something in the Water festival.
The Atlantic Avenue Association said Virginia Beach’s signs, put up in the 1990s as part of a larger effort to encourage a family-friendly atmosphere and control crowds, clearly weren’t effective and weren’t welcoming to visitors.
It came just a year before Virginia legislators finally voted to repeal the commonwealth’s 1792 law that made cursing in public a crime. Ironically, Virginia Beach city code though still lists cursing as a misdemeanor with a $250 fine.
WAVY will keep you updated on when the signs will be auctioned off.