Performing arts center would bring culture, tourism to Myrtle Beach

I can’t recall seeing a referendum on the recently completed Sports Center, but I was one of the 54 percent of the voters in favor of an Auditorium and Performing Arts Center for Myrtle Beach in November 2013. The Sports Center was developed with Hospitality and Tourism Development taxes and didn’t require Myrtle Beach voters in that decision. It will bring in revenue for the city.

The Auditorium and Performing Arts Center not only had a referendum for voters, who said they favored such a center in Myrtle Beach, but now it seems like that decision has been taken very lightly. This, also, could be a hospitality and tourism enhancement that would continue to bring quality-of-life culture to the second-fastest growing area in the United States based on the latest census figures. Myrtle Beach needs the additional entertainment facilities.

In my First Presbyterian Church’s Sunday School class, one member told me that she was going to Raleigh to see “Kinky Boots,” and if she wanted to see Bob Dylan she would have to go to North Charleston or Columbia to see “Camelot.” Myrtle Beach should have facilities to bring in events such as these and diminish the travel to other states and cities.

This week I read that parking is a problem for an additional entertainment venue and that the center should be put on hold for a year to study the impact of a combined amphitheater and performing arts center. Maybe if it is studied long enough the deadline for the referendum will expire and we can vote again to see if we want one.

For more than 15 years arts supporters have tried to establish a performance venue in Myrtle Beach and I’m not sure if it is going to happen now. I have lived in Myrtle Beach since 1989 and have been an avid supporter of the arts and usually it requires me to travel to Coastal Carolina University or the Theatre of the Republic in Conway.

Let’s make it happen here.

This story was originally published May 3, 2015 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Performing arts center would bring culture, tourism to Myrtle Beach."