Even without ‘Winter Wonderland,’ synthetic ice rink primed for skaters

Although the Bingham family’s “Winter Wonderland” walk-through attraction inside the former MagiQuest building at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach might not reopen for the rest of this Christmas season, a synthetic ice rink was primed, ready to premiere for skaters at 5 p.m. Friday.

Gary Bingham, known for coordinating annual “Dr. Scream’s” haunted houses every October in the area, said the rink, between the two Carmike Cinemas buildings, and across from Dragon’s Lair Fantasy Golf, measures 3,000 square feet, “the largest” of its type, and it was assembled by the same company that set one up earlier this decade in Myrtle Beach’s Valor Memorial Garden, at The Market Common.

Rink hours as of Saturday, Bingham said, will be noon-10 p.m. through Jan. 2, and the $10 admission includes skate rental. Get more details at 843-750-0580. He said this pastime was added to complement the “Winter Wonderland” indoor attraction that was open from Thanksgiving weekend through Wednesday.

The ice rink was added to make the whole experience even “more family friendly,” Bingham said, to give patrons “something more to do.” He also said many hockey teams use such rinks for practice, and that fueled the growth for this recreational ice skating use so commonplace across the United States and Canada.

Winter Wonderland, a concept for which Bingham said he and Douan Bingham spent several months planning, including a specially built “Grinch Mountain,” drew an excellent response,” with steady traffic – “thousands” – among families and groups through the doors, for three weeks, however Thursday marked the first day the building could not be opened because of city fire marshal concerns. Bingham said “with all the lights we have inside, and the hay,” he understands the city fire department’s caution, especially because “safety is always our No. 1 concern.”

Noting that only about two weeks are left until New Year’s, Bingham said his family might not have “enough time” to retrofit the interior to address fire marshal concerns, but that maybe this weekend, “we’ll see if things can be modified” for any attempt at reopening soon.

Bruce Arnel, battalion chief and fire marshal for the Myrtle Beach Fire Department, summarized fire code matters inside the former MagiQuest site as “too numerous to mention” for this type of amusement, such as needs to ensure unobstructed fire exits and operable exit signs. He said a customer from Winter Wonderland had voiced overall safety concerns with the city.

Arnel said a city business license had been granted for the Dr. Scream’s building use, but that a fire marshal’s reinspection was needed since the site’s change to the Winter Wonderland use.

MagiQuest has been closed since September 2015, after a decade in business.

Stressing the fire department’s “proactive” approach, Arnel said that most importantly, with another use of the building, “we want to make sure that everyone’s safe.”

Bingham said Winter Wonderland let his family “test the waters, if you will,” to see how Dr. Scream’s – which filled two sites in October, in the former MagiQuest and at House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach – could transition into a wintertime attraction.

“This was a test pilot,” he said.

This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Even without ‘Winter Wonderland,’ synthetic ice rink primed for skaters."