A group of investors has signed a four-year lease with The
Burroughs & Chapin Co., Inc, to use the smaller of the two former
Pavilion sites along with a few acres on the South End of Myrtle Beach
for two new zip-line adventure courses.
Adrenaline Adventures, a
group of businessmen from Columbia, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky, would
like to have the new zip-line courses open by March 1. The city’s
Community Appearance Board gave a nod to the conceptual plans, but no
official approval or permits have been granted yet.
“We’re all
very excited about this, but it’s still preliminary,” said architect Tom
Miller of Miller Design Services in Myrtle Beach. His firm is tasked
with designing the sales cabanas and zip-line towers around two themes:
The former Pavilion site’s theme will be a “Carolina Beach-shabby-shack”
theme, while the property on South Ocean Boulevard between Springmaid
resort and Damon’s restaurant will have a “Swiss Family Robinson-tiki”
theme.
The South Ocean Boulevard course will be named Ocean View Zip Line
Adventures, and the course on the former Pavilion site will be called
Myrtle Beach Adrenaline Adventures.
Morgan Armstrong of Columbia,
one of Adrenaline Adventures’ principal members, said designs are still
in the early stages, and Miller said everything will have to be cleared
by structural engineers to make sure “it can stand in the real world.”
The courses will take zip-liners from tower to tower on very fast rides, Armstrong said.
“It’s going to be huge fun,” he said. “It’ll be like you’re flying.”
The city limits the height of the structures to 65 feet, and Armstrong said the plans are to “max that out.”
The
company also plans a drop tower at each site, and a children’s zip-line
course and play area at the larger South Ocean Boulevard site. Large
drop towers have gondolas and carry many passengers, but Adrenaline
Adventures’ towers will be more like big bungee jumps with passengers
attached to a line that spools out as they descend.
Leasing the
properties, he said, works for his company, B&C and the city,
because it utilizes B&C’s property until the company decides what
else it might want to do with it, brings a new attraction and more
revenue to the city, and will hopefully be a moneymaker for Adrenaline
Adventures.
“This is going to be a big attraction in Myrtle Beach,
Armstrong said. “The drop towers will have people lined up around the
block.”
Burroughs & Chapin said it does not comment on contractual matters.
Before
construction can begin, the company must have all its plans OK’d by the
appearance board and line up all the city building permits. The next
appearance board meeting is Dec. 15, and Armstrong said if all goes
well, construction could begin in late December or early January.
The Downtown Redevelopment Corporation wrote a letter to the city backing the project.
“We think it’s a good temporary addition to the downtown,” said Executive Director David Sebok. “We’re very supportive of it.”
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