Myrtle Beach Pavilion (1948 - 2006)
The Myrtle Beach Pavilion
was
an 11-acre family amusement park located on the "Grand Strand" of
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Prior to the opening of the park in 1948, the Pavilion
consisted of a large structure along the ocean where beachgoers could gather,
dance, and do other stuff people did before TV.
Sadly, after 58 years of operation the owners of the park chose to close the doors forever. The announcement of the impending closure led to a record-breaking season for the park. The final day of operation, a $35 ticketed event (the park was traditionally pay-per-ride with no entrance fee), found 3,000 visitors getting their final rides.
The park itself had a bad reputation as being one of the seedier locales on the Strand. I can only assume that people who made these accusations never set foot in the park. Our visits revealed a clean, well maintained park with no security issues whatsoever. A cursory glance at many of the nearby businesses would quickly illustrate that the Pavilion was the least of Myrtle Beach's problems.
Crews worked for months demolishing the park. While some attractions were spared the wrecking ball, the park's iconic Hurricane: Category 5 rollercoaster was demolished (the trains for Hurricane, however, were sold to King's Island for use on their Son of Beast coaster). Many of the surviving attractions were sold at auction, while others are being relocated to the Broadway at the Beach entertainment complex as part of a "Pavilion Nostalgia Park." This is somewhat ironic, as the owners of Broadway at the Beach are the same people who made the decision to level the historic park in the first place.
As of this writing, nothing has been constructed where the
Pavilion once stood. Rumors of what will replace the park range from up-scale
hotels to a high-priced condo community.
We have a Last Ride video. Wanna see it? Click
here.
|
|
|
 |
Hurricane: Category 5 (left), Haunted Hotel dark ride (center), 1912 Herschell-Spillman Carousel (right)
|
|
|
|
1900 Baden Band Organ (left), Hydro Surge (center), Antique Cars (right)
|
|
|
|
Mad Mouse (left), Enterprise (center), Pirate Ship ride (right)
|
|
|
|
Line for tickets to "Last Ride" day (left), crowds at "Last Ride" day (center), Wave Swinger (right)
Visitors to Myrtle Beach are now greeted by this scenic view where the Pavilion once stood proudly. What a friggin' waste.