SUNDAY GAZETTE-MAIL
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Hurricane Hugo took a chunk out of MyrtleBeach nearly 10 years ago.
Regular visitors who have not been back to the traditional WestVirginia vacation spot in the past few years may be surprised howmuch the area has grown.Only in the past few years has Myrtle Beach attracted a slew ofnational specialty chains, from the Hard Rock Cafe to PlanetHollywood, with a House of Blues and a sports-themed Official All-Star Cafe thrown in.Broadway at the Beach, a complex featuring more than 100attractions, specialty shops and restaurants, bears someresponsibility for this growth.A land development firm, Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., whichsponsored a tour for regional reporters in early March, openedBroadway at the Beach a mere four years ago.The chains began lining up, and a few original attractions thatprobably will turn into chains also were born.These include Ripley's (of 'Believe It or Not' fame) Aquarium andNASCAR Speedpark, complete with a NASCAR Cafe, that Burroughs &Chapin created in order to begin diversifying interests in the wakeof Hugo.'That's one of the reasons this company has entered into anaggressive geographic program,' said Pat Dowling, director of publicinformation for Burroughs & Chapin. 'We're building 10 NASCARSpeedparks in other areas. We're beginning to branch out so we won'thave all our eggs in one basket.'Big plansBroadway at the Beach started as a way to get tourists back in theMyrtle Beach area after many of them went across the waterway tofactory outlets or to North Myrtle Beach, a separate municipality,tovisit another shopping and attraction center, Barefoot Landing.Barefoot Landing offers a House of Blues; the Alabama Theatre; oneof two of the area's 1950s-themed diner, Johnny Rockets (the otherone can be found at Broadway at the Beach); and the excessively coolnonpetting zoo called Alligator Adventure.'It was this company's effort to re-establish Myrtle Beach as thecenter of tourism,' said Dowling, who served as public informationdirector for the city for 13 1/2 years before taking his currentpostnine months ago.Just because Burroughs & Chapin will be diversifying does not meanthe company does not have big plans for Myrtle Beach. Right now, thefocus is on Grande Dunes, a resort area of 2,000-plus acres thatwilltake about 20 years and $2 billion to finish.Located near the Carolina Opry in the northern end of MyrtleBeach, the resort will feature a four-star hotel, a 40,000-square-foot beach club, luxury condos, a tennis center and spa, and aprivate golf course (most of Myrtle Beach's 100 courses are public).Most of the oceanfront lots for private homes already have beensold for $1 million. Private homes will start at around $400,000.'It will add a level that we don't have now,' Dowling said. 'Itwill be a truly upscale resort opportunity for those who like that.'For those who do not, or those who cannot afford such expensivedigs, there will be plenty to do.'That's one of the nice things about Myrtle Beach. We welcomeeverybody from the person with a tailpipe hanging on with tape tosomeone who drives a Rolls Royce, and everything in between. Wetruly are America's resort.'Playing ballThe Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park, in the kitschy-lookingstretch of Ocean Boulevard at the center of Myrtle Beach, stilloffers more than 40 rides and attractions for the daring.Also, tickets have sold out already for the April 12 opening gameat the new baseball park, still under construction in early March.The facility, next to Broadway at the Beach, will house the formerDurham Bulls, an Atlanta Braves farm team now re-dubbed the MyrtleBeach Pelicans in a joint effort between the city, Horry County (the'H' is silent), and, you guessed it, Burroughs & Chapin.If none of that interests a tourist, Broadway at the Beach alonealso contains an IMAX theater, a 16-screen traditional cineplex,nightclubs, a wave park, and a putt-putt golf course called theDragon's Lair that features a very large, fire-gushing dragon at theentrance.And the Carolina Opry, a variety show presented by localentertainer Calvin Gilmore, has graduated to its own plush buildingand packs in tourists almost nightly for a very professional 2 1/2-hour show.Year-round touristsOf course, all this development does not come without problems.Some locals have griped, Dowling said.'Many of the complaints you get from people who moved to the areain the last five to 10 years and bought, for example, a retirementhome or condo because of the quietude, because tourism would go forthree months and then shut down,' Dowling said. 'Now it'syear-round, and pretty heavy for six months.'Dowling estimates that visitors to Myrtle Beach number 12-14million a year. 'I like to stick to 12 million, which is probablyconservative, but it's the number I've seen that can be proved.' Thepeak population on the busiest day comes in at 500,000, which willhappen between June and Labor Day.But the fun begins even before Memorial Day. May features not onebut two motorcycle conventions, one that generally attracts older,Harley-Davidson drivers, and one attended mostly by younger, blackbikers who prefer imports.The latter of those festivals has caused some headaches andcongestion on Ocean Boulevard, with local authorities trying tofigure out how to deal with an influx of a new group of people, manyof whom come to Myrtle Beach with the primary desire of doing somecruising.'I'm not saying it's racist,' Dowling said. 'It's just a biglearning curve for this community. The kids who are coming arewelcome, but they need to tone it down. They need to realize thatthere are other segments of the tourism population who don't likebikes and who like to be able to travel and see the sites.'Dowling hearkens back to Virginia Beach, Va., which experiencedriots when a festival got out of control in 1989. He remainsoptimistic that Myrtle Beach can avoid such trauma.'The community is trying,' he said. 'The majority are trying tomove slowly to a meeting of the minds. We don't want to happen herewhat happened in Virginia Beach.'Also, a planned road, nicknamed the Conway bypass, eventually willrelieve the traffic on U.S. 501, right now the only road leadingintoMyrtle Beach.Family challenged?Still, a recent Wall Street Journal article described thetraditionally kid-friendly beach that gave birth to shag dancing as'struggling to keep its family image.' And that was just in theheadline. The story detailed the openings of a strip club and thelike in the formerly family-oriented area.But tourists either like the changes or have yet to get fed upwith them. Dowling noted that Myrtle Beach experiences an unusuallyhigh 74 percent tourist return rate. 'It shows strong, strongloyalty.'And as long as those cash registers keep ringing to the tune of$5.6 billion annual in retail sales throughout the 60-mile longGrandStrand that surrounds Myrtle Beach, there does not seem to be muchchance that the development trend will begin to reverse.Which is why, Dowling noted, that Burroughs & Chapin and othercompanies do not mind investing so much money in an area that theyexpect at some point to be hit by a hurricane bigger than Hugo.'It's like living in California,' he said. 'You say, 'Let's moveto Kansas,' but they have tornadoes. If you take a 10-year periodand analyze the number of years before a hurricane might hit, withanannual economy of $5.6 billion in retail sales, the risks are worthit.'To contact staff writer MaryWade Burnside, call 348-1230.
