‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’: Here’s how Myrtle Beach plans to breathe new life into downtown

Downtown Myrtle Beach is changing, and over the next four months city leaders will come up with a plan focused on revitalization and development.

By February, city council will identify a vision of what downtown Myrtle Beach will look like and the goals and strategies to bring that vision to fruition with the help of downtown consultants.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” said Lauren Clever, director of the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation. “It’s not (consultants) coming in and saying you need to do this, this and this. They need to understand the community.”

Over the next two council meetings, members will work with city-hired downtown consultants Jason Epley and Dan Douglas from Benchmark Planning. A public meeting is scheduled for Jan. 8, and the plan will be finalized by March 15.

City officials are paying the consultants almost $82,000.

Putting the plan together

Epley and Douglas started working on a plan in July, identifying problem areas in the city — public safety, developing a downtown identity and transportation.

The downtown area has four different districts — Family Kingdom, the south mixed-use area, the entertainment district and the Superblock — according to Douglas, who presented the framework Tuesday.

But the city must first identify the parameters of its downtown area before it can move forward with redevelopment. One important question they must answer: will it focus on tourists or locals?

Locals feel at least part of the downtown area, the Boardwalk, is focused on attracting only tourists, Douglas said.

To encapsulate both, the study area focused on the oceanfront to about Robert Grissom Parkway, taking into account residential neighborhoods and tourist-based areas.

Once council picks an identity for downtown Myrtle Beach, they can decide how they want to move forward with an arts district, public spaces and new restaurants.

“It’s got really good bones. … It just needs a little TLC,” he said.

A perceived problem

Another issue, Douglas said, was public safety. During the study, stakeholders and residents identified public safety as the number one issue.

While there has been a year over year decrease in Part I crimes — aggravated assaults, robberies, homicides and rape offenses — there still is a stigma that downtown Myrtle Beach is dangerous, Douglas said.

“It’s still perceived in the community as a place that’s not safe,” Douglas said, citing older motels in the south mixed-use area as a key spot on the crime map.

While council previously identified public safety as a top priority, Douglas said crime prevention through environmental design is a good way to help improve that perception.

It also could help improve public right-of-ways, which is important for how “people view and experience your city,” he said.

Another issue, Douglas said, is the inability to easily move through the city, mainly due to Kings Highway.

“That’s a bear to cross if you’re a pedestrian or on a bike,” he said.

The problem can be fixed, Douglas said, by connecting bicycle and pedestrian paths across the highway and offering rentals like bikes, mopeds, carts and scooters.

How we got here

Douglas praised the city for its projected growth in the downtown area and in tourism, which grew from 15.2 million visitors in 2012 to 19.6 million visitors in 2017.

But improving the downtown area has been an ongoing issue for city council.

In August, the DRC announced it was considering two new properties in the Superblock to make room for theater space for Coastal Carolina University. In January, the college expressed interest in 811 Main St. for a new theater and classroom space.

The extra buildings will give them more room for classroom space.

Original plans for the Superblock area showed renderings for a new children’s museum and library, a plan that was ill-received by the community.

City council has traveled to Greenville, Columbia and Wilmington, North Carolina, to gather ideas for how downtown Myrtle Beach should look.

While a plan is being developed, downtown merchants have been working to spruce up the area by adding sidewalk art and murals to the sides of buildings.

This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 5:28 PM.