More than 100 people gathered at the Ground Zero Theater on Friday for the revitalization forum hosted by The Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Committee.
During the forum, attendees took an online poll answering questions as to what they would like to see happen in downtown Myrtle Beach.
- 64% of the crowd voted that Myrtle Beach is not “family friendly”
- 80% voted that they like the idea of closing down parts of Ocean Blvd. to allow people to walk throughout downtown
- 69% voted that they would like to see a live music venue downtown
Retired CEO Bill Kalkhof of Downtown Durham Inc, opened up the presentation explaining how Duke University played a vital role in their downtown, something he says Coastal Carolina could do for downtown Myrtle Beach.
“Any bank that wants to loan against the project, they know that Coastal Carolina’s check is going to be good.” Kalkhof said.
The president of VisitGreenvilleSC, Chris Stone spoke how inspiritation is key, and for their downtown they took a group of people to Spain and England to get ideas.
“One of the things Myrtle Beach should be thinking about is places that are more like themselves, that are around the globe,” Stone said. “So whether it’s in the United States or North America or frankly offshore, they ought to be looking at other destinations.”
The new DRC Executive Director, Lauren Clever decided to scrap her powerpoint presentation, but told the crowd that she’s inspired to go in a different direction.
“I realized that last night after talking with both of those gentleman, that our story has started, we aren’t starting with nothing.” Clever said. “We have had great successes and we don’t celebrate them enough, we need to celebrate them.”
When asked about the Chapin Library, Superblock plans, and an overall timeline– the DRC said they are still in the brainstorming stage and trying to figure out what exactly the community needs and wants.
They will host another forum on March 12 and they are encouraging community members to attend and be vocal with input.