Myrtle Beach Pavilion - 2 seasons left?

Exactly, Rob. The Pavalion and Family Kingdom don't realy compete with each other that much, they are totally different parks, heck they barely offer attractions that are alike. Both do really well, but the Kingdom is a bit cheaper and good for larger families with small kids, while the Pavalion is geared more towards teens(Burrow's Chapin dosen't own both parks, does it?).

I think, that since the new park will be an acutal regional Theme Park, it would thrive as a different attraction as well.

I'm seriously thinking about setting up a part of my website to save the Pavalion, anybody else want to show some support?:)

Thanks, lorrie!:) I may just have to sacrifice some time to go and look at those plans, even if 99% if that time will be boring and usless...;)

Show some support for a traditional park that is endangered? Yeah, I think I could do that!

Check your Private Message inbox- you should have something waiting.

Hey Rob, check your PMs:).

In my research about the Pavilion's fate I know I've read a couple of articles where the Mayor of Myrtle Beach questioned whether it was the right thing to tear down the park for a "Saks Fifth Avenue," so perhaps there is some local support to avoid the Shopryland disaster that looms if the Pavilion goes the way of Panama City's MSAP.

(But now I don't ever have to go to PCB ever again after this year.)

I would hope that someone with some power in the city would second-guess this stupid idea. If I lived in Myrtle Beach, I know that I'd be testing the waters and seeing if there is local support to save the park, much like what is going on at LeSourdsville Lake right now.

I'm actually planning on moving to Myrtle in a year or so....if its still there, I'll definitly let everyone intersted know:).

That link above doesn't work anymore. Can somone give a brief run-down of the article about removing the Pavalion? Will there be a relocated park? This is a major shocker!

Posted on Thu, May. 13, 2004
Developer unveils plan for Myrtle Beach park

Pavilion site proposal includes hotel towers and amphitheater

MYRTLE BEACH — A roller coaster would weave around hotel towers, an amphitheater, shops and restaurants on the site of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park if a developer’s vision unveiled Wednesday becomes reality.
The city’s Downtown Redevelopment Corp. and Pavilion owner Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. moved a step closer to deciding the fate of the 56-year-old landmark Wednesday when both backed California-based Webster Realty Investors as the park project’s master developer.
Burroughs & Chapin officials stopped short of saying they will move the amusement park — a controversial step that has split elected leaders, residents and tourists. But they did say they are anxious to work with Webster, the city and others to hone the idea.
Webster’s $200 million vision for the Pavilion site includes two hotel or time share towers, an amphitheater that could seat between 500 and 1,000 people, 210 residential units, six restaurants, shops, landscaped walkways and a roller coaster aimed at keeping some of the Pavilion’s history. The original Pavilion building along the oceanfront could stay or go.
A bridge would take pedestrians over Ocean Boulevard.
Burroughs & Chapin and Webster president Barry Landreth plan to take a more detailed version to the city’s Downtown Redevelopment Corp. by year’s end.
“This is not the final plan,” Burroughs & Chapin spokesman Pat Dowling said. “This is a concept he has. It’s a good starting point. You’ve got a long way to go after today.”
Other ideas to “wow” locals and tourists include an interactive water exhibit inspired by the Bellagio, a famous hotel and casino in Las Vegas.
Plans also call for a NASCAR-themed roller coaster, a 3,000-seat performance theater, a Hollywood special effects theater and a studio cinema for live broadcasts.
“We do intend to bring those types of programs here,” Landreth said after the meeting. “It wasn’t just a show today. It is backed up by the facts.”
He eased some concern by assuring members the redevelopment would happen in phases so downtown isn’t left with a hole for the 18 months it would take to transform the site. No timetable has been set, though the change would start on the oceanfront block.
Landreth said he has approached big-name stores and restaurants including Saks Fifth Avenue, Borders, Dick Clark’s American Bandstand restaurant, Fox Sports Grille and Bubba Gump Shrimp.
Landreth has assembled a development team of a dozen consultants, lawyers, architects and financial experts. Some of them have ties to Las Vegas entertainment and attractions, including Bellagio’s water show.
“It’s mind-blowing, isn’t it?” said Myrtle Beach City Councilwoman Susan Grissom Means. “Do I think it is a possibility? Absolutely.”
Officials didn’t talk about how to pay for the $200 million project or whether the Pavilion would move.
“It’s still kind of hard for me, a lifelong resident, to imagine Myrtle Beach without the Pavilion,” Myrtle Beach councilman Randal Wallace said after the meeting. “The Pavilion is still the symbol of Myrtle Beach. I want to see how plausible some of what we saw is.”
City leaders want to generate more year-round traffic along the beachfront by replacing the seasonal amusement park with development that would lure tourists and locals to the city’s core even in the winter.
Between 2,000 and 3,000 people could mingle at any given time in the redeveloped site, Landreth said. About a million people visit the Pavilion during the four to five months it’s open, Dowling said.
Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride doesn’t want the Pavilion to move, regardless of the proposal. McBride, who didn’t attend Wednesday’s DRC meeting, doesn’t like the idea of adding an upscale flair to what has built the beach through the years.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “We’re Americana.”
Burroughs & Chapin officials endorsed Landreth as an imaginative developer who has a proven record of bringing governments and businesses together for projects. Webster has done similar projects in Long Island, N.Y., and Miami, Fla.
Landreth, a Clemson University graduate, has grown up vacationing in Myrtle Beach and still visits four to five times a year.

Help Save Myrtle Beach's Pavilion Amusement Park

Mr. Mark McBride, Mayor of Myrtle Beach, North Carolina, met with members of the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) on Saturday, August 28, 2004, to discuss how coaster enthusiasts and other interested individuals can help save the Pavilion from the planned redevelopment into an upscale shopping, dining and residential district. The current development plan is to destroy the entire area and build beachfront dining, a shopping level topped by condominium towers.

I light of the ACE's mission help protect and preserve coasters, we have been asked to express our feelings concerning the planned destruction of one of the final half-dozen beach-side amusement parks by first sending a note to the members of the Myrtle Beach city council this week (first public discussions are scheduled for Thursday, September 2. You can find a list of the addresses below, or refer to the Myrtle Beach city web site (http://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com) for other contact information.

Mark S. McBride, Mayor, P. O. Box 2468, Myrtle Beach, SC 29578

Michael Chestnut, Council, 1202 Ragin Street, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Charles "Chuck" W. Martino, Jr., Council, 7602 Briarwood Drive, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572

Susan Grissom Means, Council, 990 Antilles Court, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Philip Render, Council, 5709 Quail Hollow Lane, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Judy Rodman, Council (mayor pro tem), 9301 Kings Road, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572

Randal G. Wallace, Council, 6506-C Wildwood Trail, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572

Interested individuals can also email the developer with their concerns about his plans. Mr Barry Landreth, Webster Realty Investors (barrylandreth@websterrealty.com).

More information will be posted at http://www.ACESoutheast.org the future (along with some photos of the park from Saturday), but I can't stress enough that to escape the wrecking ball is to act now. Next Sunday at 11:00 PM in Panama City Beach, Florida, the Miracle Strip Amusement Park will turn off the lights FOREVER. We have seen what the closing of Opryland did in Nashville. Now, without our thoughts and actions, the Myrtle Beach strip could become yet again the lifeless victim of the developer's wrecking ball.

Thank you for your interest,

Robert Ulrich
Regional Representative
American Coaster Enthusiasts
Southeast Region *** Edited 8/30/2004 12:46:09 AM UTC by gamndbndr***

Great idea. At least we can express how we feel about this. Whether it will do any good or not I don't know. Unfortunately in cases like this money prevails.

I pretty much grew up with the Pavilion and I absolutely HATE to see this happen. I will write a few letters.....couldn't hurt. :-)

-Tina

Never does hurt. For all you preservation-minded folks out there (like me), here's a chance to do something.

One thing I have to ask is about the "first public decisions" on Sept. 2. What exactly does that mean? Will they make a decision on the park at that time, or what? I'm going down there on Sept 18, and on that monday or tuesday I was going to see about meeting with the Mayor, Re-development board and discuss this, as well as other options.

I think the biggest problem with our cause to save the Pavilion is that people don't want it removed in favor of something else, but no one seems to be giving suggestions on HOW they could save the Pavilion AND re-develop the down town. I have quite a few Ideas that can easily be acheived, and save the 11-acre site.

One thing they don't seem to understand is that they only want to re-vitalise the 11-acre Pavilion site, and it seems they want to keep everything else the same. Were they to spread out everything that they want in that site thruout downtown, that would be a much better solution at keeping the entire area up and going for the "off-season", instead of having it to where people may flock to this new development and nothing else (a la Barefoot Landing and Broadway @ the Beach during the off months).

If I can get a meeting with the Mayor and/or Re-development team to discuss another strategy for down town re-development, I would accept and appreciate any and all help and suggestions from anybody. And if you are in the area or will be in the area, I'd love to have some company with me (I'd even do all the talking;)) whilst I go.

They really are making a big mistake. It would be one thing if the Pavilion was not doing any business, or had a signifigant drop in attendance, but that is simply not the case.

Anybody that does want to help out or has suggestions, just PM me, or email me(my email is listed in my Profile here @ the Buzz) and let me know.

Thanks!

clint b.

and what's worse is that the Pavilion is the nicest part of that area. The streets 9thAve - 20thAve. south of the Pavilion are the blighted junkie areas. Doesn't make sense to me.

And that is my selling point exactly! I've heard more than a few people say they were expecting to go to the Pavilion for the first time and it be run-down in a nice neighborhood, but found exactly the opposite.

If anybody has anything they'd like me to bring up to the mayor/council/re-development, send it along. I'll be using some comments I've heard on this site when I speak to them.

BIGGEST. MISTAKE. EVER!!!

Well add it to the biggest mistakes ever of tearing down Opryland and Miracle Strip. I hope MBP can be saved. It will truly be sad if not. Good luck Clint.

Thanks. Yes, I agree about both Opry and Miracle Strip. I don't want to see it happen again. I would atleast understand if the park was in disrepair and had low attendance figures, but c'mon! Thats not happening here! I will be calling the Mayor 2morrow morning after I get off work to discuss a meeting in the next few weeks.