[Dukeis#1]

********************************
2006 is last season for MB amusement park
By Dawn Bryant and Emma Ritch

Say good-bye to the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park.

The beach's landmark symbol, which has greeted tourists every summer since 1948, will close after this season, park owner Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. announced today.

"A great deal of careful, painstaking thought has gone into making this decision.

The Pavilion has been one of the central landmarks of Myrtle Beach tourism for more than 50 years, and no one has a stronger or deeper emotional attachment than the people at Burroughs & Chapin," said Doug Wendel, president of the company.

The announcement was made at the Grande Dunes Ocean Club.

It's an emotional move some visitors, and locals, had feared for years, ever since the city's Downtown Redevelopment Corp. suggested that the park leave the area a few years ago.

The Pavilion has not been a viable venture for B&C for many years, Wendel said, with operational costs growing as revenues decline.

The goal is to replace the rides and funnel cake booths, which only operate during warm weather, with a mix of lodging, shops and attractions that would lure people to the Pavilion area year-round.

Charleston firm LS3P is working on details, but they won't be ready for another two months.

Board Chairman Egerton Burroughs said today that the company is holding off on announcements about the Pavilion site and about the rides at the park.

"We don't want to take away from today with what will happen when the park closes," he said.

The company plans to announce those details after LS3P's study, Wendel said.
Wendel said the fate of the Pavilion building on the oceanfront is clearer: "My best guess is it will not be there."

The Pavilion opens on weekends starting March 17 and every day starting April 7.

The complex includes an oceanfront arcade, Attic teen nightclub and 49 rides. It stretches from the oceanfront to Kings Highway in the heart of the city.

"We've known this is coming for quite some time," said hotelier Bert Anderson, who is a member of the Downtown Redevelopment Corp."

********************************

<a href='http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/business/industries/tourism/14056612.htm' target='_blank'>Myrtle Beach Online story</a>

Very sad news. I do hope something will intervene over the summer to keep the park around for years to come.

[bgwfreak]

This is such sad news.

The park "is" Myrtle Beach as far as I'm concerned.

It sounds like the real estate people are determined to do it regardless of what anyone thinks.

I will get down there again this summer since I haven't been back since summer 04.

[swampfox43]

I'm not going to fight these a$$holes anymore. B&C are simply evil. They are the devil!

I only hope this will strengthen Family Kingdoms effort to expand with some really great new rides, and another coaster.

LONG LIVE FAMILY KINGDOM (and the Swamp Fox of course)!!!

[Edwardo]

Not happy. Not happy at all am I, but I'm tired of arguing the point. I'm not acting out because I feel some attachement, I'm acting out because this is the wrong decision, esp. with what they want to replace it with. Pavilion was the ONLY reason families even came down town, and it coudl be open all year. Clean up the boardwalk and downtown if you want more families, don't get rid of the one thing that brings them in.

I'm not happy, but I'm tired of sounding like a broken record. -_-

[montumax]

This was inevitable. In today's world of corporate greed, this is no huge surprise. People have always wondered why I nevered moved to the beach when my family moved there many years ago. This is the answer. Myrtle Beach isn't the place it use to be. I know change is inevitable. Its a given. But, to me, MB has changed way too much and in the process, as seen with this ludicrous decision, forgotten its roots. At one time, it felt like a Branson wannabee with all the theatres popping up. Now, it wants to be a shopping mecca with the new mall and other shopping areas popping up. I don't know about you, when I go on vacation, I want to relax and have some fun. Myrtle Beach isn't fun anymore. Its more of a chore than anything else.

I hope they bulldoze the Pavilion. Build this new entertainment complex to lure people. Then, nobody shows up. More than likely, it won't happen; but, I'd love to see that scenario take place.

I remember when the Pavilion was only half the size it is now with the majority of it being a parking lot. I remember the Galaxi. When the Corkscrew moved there. The excitement of getting a CCI near by. I remember hearing about the possible future of the park from the GM at the time when I was doing an article on the Hurricane. I remember the asskickings I got from the Hurricane that first year. I remember the brutality of it in its current shape. Shame it's gone down hill since. Sadly, those treasured memories will remain in the mists of time come the end of the 2006 season.

Let's be thankful that we will have Family Kingdom (even though some people consider it a dump) and the Swamp Fox. Its not going to be the same when you go up the SF's lift hill and look down to where the Pavilion will use to be and all you will probably see will be motels and maybe a shopping complex. The old adage is "change is good." This time its not. Its stupid and greedy.

[bgwfreak]

Max do you know if ACE might do a "final day" type event like they did for Miracle Strip?

[AMartin777]

This is a sad and unfortunate circumstance to say the least. On our Whootah trip down a summer or two ago we spent a fantastic day at the Pavillion. I marveled at the old pics of the park they have along the walls in the gift shop and thought back to when I rode the corkscrew with a bunch of my buddies back in '94 (extremely drunk at the time as I recall). :blink:

Beachside coasters are becomming a rare breed now and the history of the Pavilion is now something that needs to be properly recorded and preserved. I would imagine (HOPE) that the rides will be purchased/moved to other locations with the sale. This is a prime opportunity for ACE to step-up and honor its dedication to preserving amusement history. The park items that are slated for the chopping block should be considered for purchase or donation to the upcoming Roller Coaster Museum.

This means that The Whootah Crew will have to try and work a trip to MB into the 2006 season and PLEASE, if you are going to the area this year, take as many photos as you can of everything from the signs to the trashcans... soon it may be the only way to see the area as it once was. You can help preserve the history!

[montumax]

Max do you know if ACE might do a "final day" type event like they did for Miracle Strip?

I'm gonna check on it!

update..

I've been in contact with somebody down there and she was really shook up over the closing. I've got several voice mails into various people at the park so its just going to be a wait and see game right now.

But, I'm working on it.

[bgwfreak]

Here's some pics for any that have not been there yet:
<a href='http://community.webshots.com/album/158010678TzAsGs' target='_blank'>http://community.webshots.com/album/158010678TzAsGs</a>

Sorry, they were taken with my old cruddy digital camera. But the new camera will be making a trip there (with it's owner) this year sometime. It's a mixture of Pavilion and MB Grand Prix.

Watch out Jarvis, I'll be making a video too!

[thunderoadrider]

there is a petition online to save the pavilion the web site is http://www.PetitionOnline.com/mbpav/

[swampfox43]

^ Poorly written peptition, bad grammer.....will anyone take this seriously?

What the heck, I signed it anyway.

[bgwfreak]

^ We take your site seriously. *ooooh burn*

lol j/k

[montumax]

I've never bought the whole argument that they used about it being a seasonal park and it hurts them by not being open year round. If they'd actually put some money into the park where it'd actually show that they cared about the place, add a new ride or two instead of taking out rides, maintain the Hurricane properly, and clean up the area around it, then things might be differently. I think once they got into the whole mindset of "we're gonna shut 'er down and that's it", they didn't give a crap about the place anymore.

[swampfox43]

^You hit the nail on the head Max!

Many small amusement parks, open fewer days a year than the Pavilion, continually make profits.

The Pavilion has simply made bad management decisions. Like you said, they had the mindset that they were going to close years ago so they quit maintaining the rides and let the place go to pot.

Naturally, you lose business when you do not add substantial investments anually (or at least bi-anually) and keep the place presentable. And the poor Hurricane is barely rideable now.

This is simply a cop-out for B&C to use this as a reason to close this place. The real reason is poor management and lack of capital investments. Note: The Hurricane (2000) was the last new major ride added to the park.

[RollerBee]

Oh goody, we are stuck with that park they call an amusement park but it appears to be a fair that doesn't move. I hate Family Kingdom, the park is built half in the parking lot. The Pavilion has better rides than Family Kingdom plus a better atmosphere.