Returning free wheelchair beach service a no-brainer in Myrtle Beach

When the city of Myrtle Beach briefly dropped its free beach wheelchairs, the neighboring municipality of North Myrtle Beach started hearing concerns from folks who use North Myrtle Beach’s free beach wheelchair service.

“News travels fast,” says Pat Dowling, public information officer for North Myrtle Beach, who handled some phone calls from out of state. People had seen the Myrtle Beach announcement and, like many other visitors to and residents of the area, did not distinguish between the two cities, which are separate entities. North Myrtle Beach posted on Facebook an announcement that beach wheelchairs remained free. The post “was not meant as a swipe at Myrtle Beach.”

The geographic boundaries of Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach don’t mean anything to many folks, and the similarity of the names adds to the confusion. Our two Grand Strand cities are not as easily separated in the mind as, for example, the Minnesota twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the state capital. Residents of some unincorporated areas such as Carolina Forest have U.S. Postal Service addresses of Myrtle Beach, adding to misunderstanding.

Beach wheelchairs are an important part of beachgoing for visitors and residents who need wheelchairs. When the city of Myrtle Beach announced it was dropping its free service, it swiftly heard from residents who were displeased that they would have to make arrangements for wheelchairs with private firms, instead of phoning the city and making a request. Mark Kruea, public information officer, described the service as “one of those that really fits the `above and beyond’ description.”

Free wheelchairs may be above and beyond what might be expected, but it’s always difficult to take away a free service. Renting chairs costs several dollars a day. Prices listed on websites suggest a seven-day plan costing $196 – $28 a day – is a typical cost. By the day, a typical rental is $45. Folks who have used beach wheelchairs without cost are not going to want to pay. Given the situation, Myrtle Beach did the right thing in swiftly restoring its free chairs.

“It made sense to let the private sector do that, but the public really liked the service that we were providing. We heard them loud and clear,” Kruea says. Now the city has ordered 12 new chairs and tweaked the service to have community service officers, not beach patrol officers, deliver the chairs. As Kruea says, “It would be nice to take the police department completely out of the picture.”

North Myrtle Beach encourages residents and visitors to pick up their wheelchairs at the Beach Services warehouse on 6th Avenue South. Delivery costs $25. Beach Services is part of Parks & Recreation. Sixteen wheelchairs are provided by the Pilot Club of North Myrtle Beach, and in the summer months, all 16 chairs generally are in service. The best days to call to reserve a chair are Sundays or Mondays. Chairs may be reserved for a maximum of a week and reservations may be made up to a year in advance.

North Myrtle Beach also is looking at beach access mats for the city’s several wheelchair access points. Many beach access areas have stairs, in both cities.

Having the Parks and Recreation Department handle beach wheelchairs makes a lot of sense, as does a delivery fee. Myrtle Beach should take a look at its northern neighbor’s beach wheelchair system.

This story was originally published June 25, 2016 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Returning free wheelchair beach service a no-brainer in Myrtle Beach."