The
Myrtle Beach Boardwalk & Promenade,
located in Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina, officially opened in May 2010 at a cost of nearly $6.4
million and runs 1.2 miles along the oceanfront from the Pier 14 at 14th Avenue
North to the 2nd Avenue Pier at 2nd Avenue North. National Geographic has ranked Myrtle Beach Boardwalk number
three in the United States, while Travel
and Leisure ranked the boardwalk number two.
The
northern section, 8 feet wide with a raised wooden deck design, runs from Pier
14 to Plyler Park, the location of "Hot Summer Nights", with live
music twice a week during the summer,
and weekly attractions that include a "Kids Carnival", bagpipes, and
a Dixieland band. The middle section, from Plyler Park to the former site of Myrtle
Beach Pavilion, has "a carnival atmosphere accompanied by restaurants,
bars and gift shops". The Southern Promenade, from the former Pavilion to
2nd Avenue Pier, city officials describe as a "meandering oceanfront
park" with benches and landscaping. The city contributed 600 palmetto
trees and 50,000 beach grass seedlings.
Myrtle
Beach had a wooden boardwalk in the
1930s. All that remained was a concrete walkway between 9th Avenue North and
11th Avenue North, later renamed Mr. Joe White Avenue. The city was considering
several payment methods. Opponents of the tax district wondered if small
businesses could pay. The boardwalk was finished from 14th Avenue to 4th Avenue
early in April. On December 1, 2011, the Myrtle Beach Community Appearance
Board saw plans for a new restaurant and park north of 14th Avenue North, which
could include an extension of the boardwalk, but it was not known who would pay
to add to the boardwalk. The city would ask companies and organizations to
contribute the money. If the city approved the plan, the boardwalk would start
two miles further south at Springmaid Pier, and it would end one mile farther
north. Also, boardwalk designer Mike Wooten stated his interest in widening the
boardwalk, which would require action by the South Carolina legislature. The
Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corporation voted on April 16, 2014 to plan
for a municipal improvement district in which extra property taxes would be
paid. Buchanan Motels LLC planned a 23-story hotel at 17th Avenue North which
would begin construction in 2015, and among their planned improvements for the
area was a $500,000 extension of the boardwalk to 18th Avenue North.
Even
during the boardwalk's construction, the national media showed interest in the
boardwalk. Travel and Leisure
named Myrtle Beach Boardwalk the number two boardwalk mainly because of the
entertainers, and The Today Show
featured the report. Visitors have given overwhelmingly positive reviews to the
boardwalk.
