CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Developers are trying to bring a new purpose to the site that was supposed to be one of the biggest attractions in the Myrtle Beach area.
It looks like the beginning of a Halloween horror movie: an amusement park abandoned a decade ago. Near the interchange for U.S. Highway 501 and George Bishop Parkway is the site of the former Freestyle Music Park, which closed in 2009. It opened in 2008 under the name Hard Rock Park.
The property’s owners, which include former Myrtle Beach mayor John Rhodes, now want to get some of this land in the Fantasy Harbour district of Horry County back up and running.
“There’s interest in that area from a redevelopment standpoint and this is sort of the first step in getting there,” said Sean Hoelscher of DDC Engineers.
The developers are asking the county to rezone a northern part of the property. The goal is to make it a warehousing and distribution district.
The plan does not mention any redevelopment of the rest of the property where most of Freestyle Music Park was. Right now, the whole property essentially can only be used as an amusement park.
A distribution district would allow businesses in a 300,000-square-foot building to have one of about 30 different uses. Those include warehouses, storage, breweries, indoor recreation and several different types of manufacturing.
The building would be redeveloped in up to four phases.
“They are looking to potentially subdivide the building, a few simple lots for certain portions of the building,” said county planner John Danford.
At a county planning commission workshop Thursday, Hoelscher said splitting up the building would allow more flexibility for any business looking to revive part of the old amusement park.
“We’ve instituted the phase system, the phase lines, which will provide the redevelopment of the existing structure in a timely and efficient manner,” he said.
A public hearing about this proposal is scheduled for the next county planning commission meeting Nov. 7 at 5:30 p.m.
