Taxpayers on hook for $23M for theater. Can Myrtle Beach cut costs to save money?

In a new Myrtle Beach City Council term under new mayoral leadership, the city isn’t posed to cut back plans for the downtown theater.

In a Tuesday meeting, City Council discussed potential savings for Arts and Innovation District projects, including the new downtown theater. City staff were tasked with identifying money-saving opportunities to present to Council, but it’s unlikely major costs will be cut.

“It doesn’t sound like there are any big dollar amounts that are forthcoming,” Mayor Mark Kruea told The Sun News about possible savings.

Plans to gut three historic downtown buildings and create a 300-seat theater managed by Coastal Carolina University come with a budget around $23.3 million, including the money to purchase the land.

Although CCU will manage the theater, Myrtle Beach is covering construction costs to renovate and combine the abandoned Helen Mates Dress Shop, J&J Drugs and Broadway Theater buildings with a bank loan.

After the theater’s completion, CCU will sublease it from the city, The Sun News previously reported. The lease agreement mandates 150 minimum “use” days for CCU for plays and other performances, 100 days available for third-party use via CCU and 30 “use days” for the city in a year.

The theater was originally slated to complete construction in August but was pushed back to redesign the steel structure with the correct dimensions. So far, the city has spent about $9 million of that total and expects to finish the theater in November.

That’s part of the larger budget of roughly $80 million for Arts and Innovation District projects, including infrastructure work. Myrtle Beach has already dedicated about $18 million to infrastructure and plans to finish the projects by the end of 2027.

Between the theater and infrastructure, taxpayers have paid about $27 million of the $80 million price tag, according to assistant city manager Brian Tucker.

Throughout his mayoral campaign, Kruea expressed his support for the theater but denounced the hefty investment for such a small venue.

“When you talk about the expense of the theater … this is too expensive for too few seats. I don’t know whether there are savings to be had, but that’s a question that’s high on the list,” Kruea said in an interview before taking office. “The city is focused so much on those few blocks downtown, the rest of the city has been ignored.”

But at this point in the theater project, most of the materials have reportedly already been ordered. In the meeting, council heard that only the marquee, flooring, wall finishes and doors were left to order.

While potential changes might save money, they’re complicated by historic and abandoned tax credits.

“Any changes, at this point, we would have to go back through and have the state historic office sign off on those changes,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of financial commitments that we’ve made, not just to CCU and the contractor, but with respect to those tax credits that we need to make sure we exercise the right amount of due diligence and caution before we make too many changes.”

Some potential savings for the Arts and Innovation District projects may lie outside the theater, but even the primary cost-saving area to scale back, decorative crosswalks, would reportedly only save $300,000 to $400,000.

Still, council members indicated they’re interested in seeing what potential savings city staff come back with.

“It may not be a lot, but anywhere that we can save money – whether it’s $10,000 or $300,000 or things that look pretty but aren’t necessary – that we look at that seriously, because that money can then be programmed to other areas of the city where we also need it,” said Councilman Bill McClure.

This story was originally published January 28, 2026 at 10:38 AM.