Conway leaders toss plans for building civic center in former museum

Horry County’s former museum will not be reincarnated as a civic center.

Conway City Council on Monday scrapped plans for converting the Main Street property into a banquet hall and convention space.

Despite discussing that idea for more than a year, officials said the 1930s-era building lacks sufficient parking and space to serve as a civic center. They are now exploring other uses for the facility, including a possible location for the Conway Innovation Center (CIC), a business incubator program that’s operating in a Third Avenue storefront.

“I just don’t think we need to be in the banquet business,” City Councilman Tom Anderson said. “We need to go back to the original plan, which was to have somewhere for the CIC to grow into.”

After the county museum moved into the old Burroughs School on Main Street in 2013, city leaders asked their county peers if they could have the building for the CIC, a Coastal Carolina University initiative that helps launch startup businesses.

Anderson said CIC officials didn’t want to wait for the former museum property to be renovated before opening, so they moved into the Third Avenue spot. However, he said, that location is temporary.

“Coastal is behind that thing and it’s growing and they’re going to need to go somewhere else,” he said. “[The former museum] is a dynamic, great, awesome, fun, funky space.”

The city has already set aside $500,000 for renovating the former museum building and last year secured a $250,000 state grant for the project.

Adding a civic center/banquet hall in the heart of the city was one of the recommendations in a 2013 downtown market analysis.

For more than a year, Conway leaders have touted the former museum building as an ideal rental property for wedding receptions, reunions and small conferences. They also planned for the building to house Conway Downtown Alive (CDA), an organization that promotes the city.

Monday’s discussion signaled a stark change in city officials.

Although the city still plans to move the CDA offices and the local visitors center to the former museum, officials now say the 6,838-square-foot facility just isn’t large enough to work as a civic center. They also don’t want to compete with nearby private sector facilities, which can hold dozens of guests.

“We’re interfering with any of the private spaces, and hopefully some of those are going to come back,” City Councilwoman Jean Timbes said. “It’s not as big as it needs to be to handle a big function.”

Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy said she understood where other council members were coming from.

“I don’t disagree with what I hear,” she said. “I really did look forward to it being a lovely small civic place, but there’s probably a better use for that space.”

Other suggestions for the building included providing space for a local arts organization and adding an office for the director of a farmers market co-op.

Although there are different possibilities, Blain-Bellamy said she wants the community to help leaders come up with a new direction for the project.

Council members are considering holding some town hall meetings where the public can talk about the former museum and the proposed city square at the corner of Laurel Street and Second Avenue. They hope that by collecting suggestions for both projects they can come up with ideas that will be both popular and functional.

“We’re going to pause,” Blain-Bellamy said. “We’re going to step back and we’re going to look at what mixtures make sense.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Conway leaders toss plans for building civic center in former museum."