The area formerly known as the Pavilion (Myrtle Beach: oceanfront, amusement park)

[Myrtleman]

The dismantling of the building and amusement park was one of the worst things that ever happened to the city.

I don't live in Myrtle Beach but it has always been sort of a home away from home for me. A place with a laid back vibe that was always more than just a beach to me, it was a place for escapism.

The feeling of escapism lasted long after the brief vacations I took there with my family were over. I would sometimes "visit Myrtle" in my mind as a child, mentally envisioning the places I'd been there, the parts of town I was familiar with, biting my lip and looking forward to the next family trip that would take me there. My mind carved out very specific and wonderful memories with my family and friends -- some of them so vivid that I can remember which songs were being played on certain rides at the amusement park at the time the memory occurred.

Then, a decade ago, it's like a nuclear warhead was detonated right in the center of Myrtle Beach. To this day I can never understand why it was deemed to be a good idea to remove such an important part of the city's history, a landmark where so many others like myself had childhood memories carved out in their mind. Sometimes part of a city gets lost to nature (fire, tornado) or even as collateral damage of human nature (war), but in this case it was lost due to pure human greed. What's worse, the greed appears to not even be particularly well thought out, because ten years later there is still nothing of particular importance or interest occupying the space.

I can understand things like declining interest in the amusement rides combined with increasing insurance rates. Perhaps some of the rides could have been replaced with other attractions like shops, without simply gutting a square block. And above all, I don't understand why the Pavilion building itself needed to go. A solid concrete building designed to withstand weather and fire wasn't exactly decaying into disrepair was it? It's not like the use of the space was preventing some more important use.

It seems to me that it's an example of the worst type of greed -- the dismissal of the value of all those childhood memories to countless families for the pursuit of easier dollars -- and, a plan that was apparently so poorly thought out that it does not appear to have even resulted in a payoff, just a MASSIVE, massive loss of sentimental value.

What's more, I find my trips to Myrtle Beach quite infrequent these days. With the loss of those memories, I have very little reason to go.

[merv1225]

I agree with you. Lots of childhood memories from summer vacations to Myrtle Beach back in the '60s and '70s. The Pavilion was a big part of that and I was sad to see it had disappeared when I visited that area a couple of years ago.

[Myrtleman]

Originally Posted by merv1225

I agree with you. Lots of childhood memories from summer vacations to Myrtle Beach back in the '60s and '70s. The Pavilion was a big part of that and I was sad to see it had disappeared when I visited that area a couple of years ago.

I think the best move at this point would be to put it all back. It sounds kind of absurd, but as the city struggles with crime, heroin & fentanyl epidemics and such, and searches for ways to bolster the family vacation image of the city, I think they are overlooking one of the cataclysmic events that kicked off the erosion of that family image in the first place.

Destruction of the pavilion area sent the message : "Dear Families, the images and memories you grew up with are gone, and there's no way you can re-live those memories while spending time with your kids and grandkids." Meanwhile, removing these landmarks did nothing to discourage things like oceanfront crime during thug biker week.

I believe rebuilding the pavilion and the amusement park could represent an amazing marketing opportunity for the city. Imagine a "Pavilion is back!" campaign. The amount of money that would bring to the city would be phenomenal.

People who have given up on MB would have reason to return. The type of people the city wants to spend their dollars there.