From water park to car wash? Former Surfside Beach venue’s use back up for debate
Hundreds of Surfside Beach residents last year made it known they don’t want a former water park converted into hundreds of homes.
How will they feel about the possibility of a gas station and car wash there instead? They’ll have their say Aug. 1 ahead of a potential rezone of the Wild Water and Wheels amusement park.
The decision about whether to permit commercial development on the 16-acre site off U.S. Highway 17 ultimately rests with town leaders.
Mark Lazarus, whose Lazarus Entertainment Group ran the park for more than three decades, said he has a deal in place for construction of a convenience store and gas station - pending approval from the town.
“We’re trying to make a good business decision, trying to bring some income into the town,” Lazarus said. “We haven’t done anything but give to this town for 32 years.”
Back in December, the town’s planning commission recommended denial of a rezoning application allowing the mothballed venue to become a mixed-use venture with more than 300 homes.
In what Surfside Beach officials said was the town’s heaviest attendees meeting in history, dozens of residents worried over declining property values, traffic snarls and school overcrowding should the project be allowed to move forward.
Now, Lazarus is back asking for the whole parcel to be flipped into a broad highway commercial designation where dozens of uses are permitted - from aquariums to funeral homes.
Meanwhile, the water park noted for its brightly colored slides and tunnels that poked into the Myrtle Beach skyline is slated for demolition starting this week.
Lazarus said changing economic conditions along with schools starting earlier and hotels building in-house attractions all played into his family’s decision to close Wild Water and Wheels in October 2022, after it’s 32nd season.
“We tried as hard as we can to bring people in there but it just hasn’t worked. I should have shut that place down 10 years ago or more, but I kept trying and trying to make it work, and it hasn’t worked,” he said.
This story was originally published July 7, 2023 at 7:00 AM.