Palmetto State Armory demolishing old Myrtle Beach Sun News building for renovation
The former Sun News building is being demolished as the new owners, Palmetto State Armory, prepare to open later this year.
The South Carolina-based gun store, with at least six locations in-state, replaced the newspaper’s red and orange sign at the U.S. 17 Bypass location with their logo in February 2021.
Julian Wilson, co-owner of PSA, said the front part of the building is being torn down due to the low ceilings.
He added they have no use for them, so they’ll rebuild it with higher ceilings.
The armory had planned on opening the Myrtle Beach area location by late 2021 or early 2022.
But “the permitting process took a bit longer than we expected,” he wrote in an email. He suspects renovations will move along much more quickly now.
This will be the company’s first retail location in the Grand Strand or Horry County.
In November 2020, shortly before Palmetto State Armory took over ownership, the gun store informed Horry County of its interest in opening a retail gun store and firing range inside of the building, according to a zoning verification request.
Horry County Land Records list the 6.29-acre property’s value as $2.65 million.
County officials told the company that it will be allowed to have an indoor firing range so long as it does not produce noise, smoke or other public nuisances beyond the property.
Wilson previously told The Sun News that the building, despite needing extensive renovations, is perfect for their needs.
The warehouse where the printing presses were located already works well for sound abatement and can draw large amounts of electricity, which they will need due to federal air filtration requirements for firing ranges.
The firing range will have 20 lanes with the ability to expand in the future as needed. Customers can shoot both new and historic guns, such as the WW2 era Tommy gun.
The Sun News moved out of the building in early 2020.
In February 2020, shortly before the start of the pandemic, the paper moved into a Coastal Carolina National Bank building located at 1012 38th Ave. N. But reporters have been primarily working remotely since the pandemic began.