Surfside Beach hoped its new $20M pier would open soon. But it won’t be ready for months.

The opening of a modernized, multi-million dollar Surfside Beach pier has been pushed back months because of design and supply chain issues, but officials are promising the final product will be worth the wait.

The town hoped to begin welcoming visitors back by October, but a new timeline for the $19 million project puts its completion somewhere between mid-December and spring of 2023.

“This pier’s never been built in the world before. The circumstances of the design and site, it’s very unique,” John O’Brien, a principal at Myrtle Beach-based Consensus Construction said during a July 27 meeting with town leaders.

Retail will be a significant part of the walkway, with existing space for four merchants in three buildings, two interior walk-up areas and a pavilion near the pier’s end.

The former Surf Diner is already leasing the biggest building.

Surfside’s pier has been a part of the coastal town’s identify for a half century. Initially built in 1953, it was rebuilt three times because of storm damage.

But in 2016, powerful winds from Hurricane Matthews sheared off half its 800-foot-long walkway and closed it indefinitely.

FEMA awarded the town $15 million in 2021 to pay for the pier’s upgrades, but the costs have climbed to roughly $20 million.

To help make up the difference, the town implemented a new parking policy that put meters at all beaches and converted one-hour parking along Surfside Drive from Hollywood to Pinewood drives to paid.

The new construction design will include wooden planking than can be washed away during storm surges without compromising the pier’s structural integrity.

Interest already appears high for a commercialized pier. In April, 10 businesses submitted bids to open there, split between retail and dining choices.

In documents supporting the town’s solicitation for would-be businesses, officials played up the region’s explosive growth. Just in the third quarter of 2021, collected almost $300 million worth of sales. And Travel + Leisure named Surfside’s beach one of the state’s 13 best a year earlier.

Councilman Will Stamey said told the project’s design and construction team the setback frustrated him.

“It seems like every time I turn around we’re hearing problem after problem and delays. What do we do,” he said.

This story was originally published August 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.