Sun News -- A Tennessee company is bidding to open a new family amusement park on the site of the Myrtle Beach Shrine Club. The
park would include an elevated go-kart track, bumper boats, a small
train, an arcade and shop and a Ferris wheel, said Allison Hardin,
planner for the city of Myrtle Beach. Eventually, the company hopes to
open additional attractions that are geared to the Intracoastal
Waterway, which the property abuts, according to a proposal it has
submitted with Myrtle Beach. The company will lease the land from
the Shriners that stretches between U.S. 17 and the Intracoastal
Waterway at the south end of Restaurant Row. The Shriners will be able
to use the second story of the two-story building the company plans to
build on the site, Hardin said.
“We’ve kind of always been
interested in the area,” said Carl Cook of the marketing department of
The Track, a family recreation center in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Cook
noted that the Grand Strand’s location within “a good drive” of millions
of people makes the area a good location for the company’s expansion.
The
development would be done in three phases, with the first to be
completed by June 15, 2016, the second Dec.31, 2016 and the third Dec.
31, 2020, according to the planning document. The first phase would include a commercial building; the second, amusement uses; and the third, improvements along the waterway. The
Track in Pigeon Forge has a three-story spiral go-kart track plus
another that features overpasses. It also has kiddie go-karts, bumper
boats and a Ferris wheel.
Cook said The Track has been open 30
years in Pigeon Forge. About 20 years ago, he said, the company opened
its second amusement park location in Destin, Fla. The company has
built arcades in other places, but Cook said the Myrtle Beach
recreation center, as the company calls it, will be its third. Hardin
said the site encompasses 6.2 acres and the developer will be able to
build on 75 percent of the land, including parking lots. Other areas of
the city allow higher density, she said. A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for the Myrtle Beach Planning Commission meeting at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 19. Cook
said the company has not finalized the design of its building, which
ultimately must be approved by Myrtle Beach’s Community Appearance
Board.
