Myrtle Beach’s new attraction, a zip-line course, could be open by April 1

People driving past the larger of two former Pavilion lots in Myrtle Beach will notice work progressing quickly on the zip-line project being erected there.

Poles have been placed for two 65-foot towers, between which participants will shoot 600 feet on a “very fast ride,” owners have said.

The towers will be built around the poles, and architect Tom Miller, of Miller Design Services, said the construction should go quickly now. Underground work was completed in the past few weeks to anchor the towers for riders’ safety.

Garth Price, partner in Adrenaline Adventure Courses, the company installing and operating the zip-line course, said construction crews also have framed out the sales booth where tickets will be sold.

He and other investors are hoping the course will be open by April 1.

Adrenaline Adventure Courses plans for the course on the former Pavilion site to have a “Carolina Beach-shabby-shack” theme. It will be called Myrtle Beach Adrenaline Adventures.

The company is leasing the lot for four years from the Burroughs & Chapin Co., along with another lot on South Ocean Boulevard between Damon’s restaurant and Springmaid resort, which will have a “Swiss Family Robinson-tiki” themed zip-line course and be called Ocean View Zip Line Adventures.

Plans call for the South Ocean Boulevard course to feature a children’s play area, while the Pavilion-lot course will have a 50-foot free-fall deck, in addition to the zip-lines.

Construction permits have recently been obtained for the South Ocean Boulevard site, and Price, who is also a builder, said construction there could begin in a couple of weeks.

He was at the Pavilion lot on Thursday, running heavy equipment and placing a set of stairs as he offered an update on the projects.

Adrenaline Adventure Courses is a group of investors from Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky and Columbia, and Price said he and the others feel fortunate to have been able to strike a lease bargain with the Burroughs & Chapin Co.

The zip-line course is a temporary use, because at some point, property owners will redevelop the land, but the lease is for four years and can be extended.

Until plans are devised for the lot’s redevelopment, Price and the other partners in Adrenaline Adventure Courses hope to tap into 1 percent of the estimated 13.7 million people who visited here last year by bringing a unique and exciting attraction to downtown Myrtle Beach.

“Adrenaline Adventure Courses is our name and that’s what we like,” Price said. “We are all about adrenaline.”