MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The City of Myrtle Beach is paying $5,000 a month until the end of the year to give city officials more time to decide to purchase the First Presbyterian Church to turn into an additional city office to solve their space issues.
They have also hired an architectural firm for around $25,000 to determine the cost of turning the old church into a new office space.
“We’ve pretty much reached capacity here at city hall, we’ve reached capacity in the city services building. We really are going to need some more room here in the near future,” Mark Kruea, a Myrtle Beach city spokesman said.
The $5,000 a month payment will keep the church’s asking price at $2.8 million. Should Myrtle Beach decide to buy the building, the $15,000 they paid will go toward its purchase, however, if they decide not to buy it, the city won’t be able to get the monthly payments back.
Myrtle Beach says they’re considering other options too, like adding onto the buildings they have now, or building a new one entirely.
Right now, the offices in City Hall, City Services, the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation and Risk Management are in different buildings. All of those departments would move into one location in the future.
“Having one location, the church, for example, would allow us to put all of the basic city functions under the same roof,” Kruea said.
Myrtle Beach says having all of the related city departments together would be more convenient for the public too.
The city says regardless of the option they choose, the new building will benefit city residents and save them more money in the long run.
“We’re in old buildings right now, granted, the church is an older building too, but there are costs associated with maintaining older buildings. If you want to do that, you need to budget money for new roofs, new HVAC systems, that sort of thing. Plus, we’re going to need additional space,” Kruea said.
There is no set timeline on when officials will need to make a decision, but no matter which option they choose, city leaders will need to budget for the purchase.