Loss of an Icon

Brian Andrelczyk, CedarPoint6

Like a lot of people, I saw it coming.  A few years ago, the rumors started that the Myrtle Beach Pavilion would soon close and be redeveloped.  It made sense, really.  The park was located on a full block of prime real-estate right next to the ocean.  With operating costs and an always-uncertain visitor count, other things could be more profitable.  Either way, it was still disheartening when the news came at the beginning of 2006 that the park would close forever after the season.  It’s replacement would be a mix retail and condos.  At the end of 2006, the rides thrilled their final riders and the lights were shut off forever.  After 58 years of operation, the park closed in an instant. 

            I’m only writing this now, in March of 2007, because it’s only just now starting to settle in.  Most of the rides have been in pieces for over a month now, but just the other day workers between to destroy the Hurricane wooden coaster.  I was fortunate enough to visit the park in August, several weeks before its closure.  Hurricane had seen better days.  The ride was rough and shook badly all through the layout.  It might have been one of the roughest coasters I had ridden to that date.  I only managed 4 rides that day, but now I wish I’d taken one or two more spins.  Seeing pictures last night of the track being ripped from the superstructure erased all those harsh feelings about the ride.  Any coaster is better then no coaster.  A creative out and back layout book-ended with two helixes, the coaster fit lots of track into a small space and allowed for other rides to be built in the center of the helixes.  It’s very sad to see the pictures of the ride coming down—not just for the destruction of another coaster, but also for Custom Coaster International.  Only 5 and a half years earlier, the ride was just being completed.  Six years is an incredibly short lifespan for a 6 million dollar purchase.  Now it’s little more then a pile of rubble.

            But looking beyond Hurricane, there was much more to the park.  Compared to any other amusement park, the place was tiny.  It didn’t need to be big.  There were more rides in this little park then most larger parks can claim.  And they were interesting too.  An old Hopkins log flume, a scrambler in the middle of a coaster helix, a themed rapids ride, a classic old haunted mansion, a Huss enterprise old enough that the nameplate still listed the manufacture location as West Germany… the list goes on.  The rides, however didn’t make the park—the atmosphere did.  With the number of true American seaside parks able to be counter on your fingers, it was a special place.  Free admission allowed everyone to come and wander.  Have a ride here and there or just take it all in.  There was something exciting at every corner.  It’s one of those things that words really can’t describe.  Neither can pictures.  You just had to have been there.  While I was lucky enough to have gone twice, I’ll always wish I had gone more. 

            It’s sad, really.  It won’t be for another few years until something else is built in place of the park.  Many of the rides are currently up for sale.  These rides might live on somewhere else.  But not the Hurricane.  The ride was demolished because a buyer could not be found  …  in 3 months.  Never mind that the park won’t be redeveloped for another perhaps 2 years.  It seems to me that if the owners had held out for slightly longer, a buyer would have been found.  Look at the old Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City Beach, Florida.  When the park closed, Cypress Gardens Amusement Park bought the wooden coaster, Starliner, and are currently re-building it.  It’s good to see the ride live on, despite the fact the Miracle Strip was demolished for no reason.  Years of history were bulldozed to make room for condos that will never be built since the deal fell through several weeks ago.  We can only hope that this won’t happen to the Pavilion. 

            The park is gone now.  We can be bitter and sad all we want, but the fact remains that the park is a thing of the past.  For 58 years, the park entertained millions of children and adults alike.  Talking to several residents, the park will certainly be missed.  There’s a story of one man standing by the demolition site, shouting and cussing out the crews.  The park hasn’t gone quietly.  The memories are sure to live on long past the day that repetitive retail stores vie for customers in the dwindling family market of Myrtle Beach.  It was sad to see it go, but nothing can last forever.  Thanks for the memories.