Burroughs & Chapin Company Announces 2006 Will be the “Farewell Season” for the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park and the Attic
Burroughs & Chapin Company, Inc. of Myrtle Beach, S.C. has announced that 2006 will be the “Farewell Season” for The Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park and The Attic. The company also unveiled a “One Last Time” farewell season billboard campaign and said that a series of season-long celebratory events will be announced in the near future.
Myrtle Beach, S.C. (PRWEB) March 11, 2006 -- Burroughs & Chapin Company, Inc. of Myrtle Beach, S.C. has announced that 2006 will be the “Farewell Season” for The Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park and The Attic. The company also unveiled a “One Last Time” farewell season billboard campaign and said that a series of season-long celebratory events will be announced in the near future.
At a press conference at the Grande Dunes Ocean Club in Myrtle Beach, Burroughs & Chapin Company Chief Executive Officer and President Douglas P. Wendel said, “A great deal of careful, painstaking thought has gone into making this decision. The Pavilion has been one of the central landmarks of Myrtle Beach tourism for more than 50 years and no one has a stronger or deeper emotional attachment to it than the people at Burroughs & Chapin.”
Wendel said that the Pavilion has not been a viable business for Burroughs & Chapin for a number of years. The company operates its entertainment venues at very high safety and quality levels, and the cost of keeping the 50-year-old amusement park operational has climbed while annual revenues have declined. In recent years, Burroughs & Chapin kept the Pavilion open by subsidizing it, but operational costs have now reached the point of no return.
As a strictly seasonal business, the Pavilion is a symbol of the Myrtle Beach of the past. Together with the Myrtle Beach City Council and the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation, Burroughs & Chapin believes that downtown Myrtle Beach requires 12-month business activity to rebuild the downtown’s economy.
“Burroughs & Chapin is proud to be one of the leading visionary influences in the community, bringing many positive changes to quality of life in Myrtle Beach,” said Wendel, citing Broadway at the Beach, Grande Dunes residential and resort community, and Coastal Grand Mall as examples.
“We’re looking forward to working with the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation and the Myrtle Beach City Council to advance the redevelopment of the 11-acre Pavilion site, which also will serve our common goal of helping to spark redevelopment of the 300-plus acres that make up downtown Myrtle Beach in general.”
The farewell season of the Pavilion will feature a series of celebratory events and activities that will be announced in the near future. The events, which will be staged throughout the summer and into the fall will include celebrations at The Attic, which — as the Pavilion’s teen night club — will also have its farewell season in 2006.
“We want 2006 to be a season of fun and excitement,” said Wendel. “Many, many people have wonderful memories of the Pavilion and The Attic. We invite everyone to become a part of the grand finale of this much loved icon of Myrtle Beach tourism.”
About The Pavilion And The Attic
Located on Ocean Boulevard in the heart of Myrtle Beach, S.C., The Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park has been entertaining generations of families for more than 50 years. An 11-acre amusement park by the Atlantic Ocean, the Pavilion features more than 40 rides ranging from a large variety of kiddie rides to the Hurricane Category 5, the biggest roller coaster in South Carolina.
The Pavilion’s main building, which houses The Attic, is located on the east side of Ocean Boulevard and the amusement park is located on the west side of Ocean Boulevard.
The first Pavilion building was a one-story wooden structure attached to Myrtle Beach’s first hotel, the Seaside Inn (long since demolished and also a Burroughs & Chapin property). This first Pavilion building was used as an annex and gathering place for Inn guests. It burned to the ground in 1920 and was replaced by a two-story wooden Pavilion in 1925. It is in this Pavilion building that “shagging” became the hot new dance at the beach. In 1944 this second Pavilion building burned to the ground and in 1948 the company built a new Pavilion building with walls of reinforced concrete, the first of its kind along the Grand Strand. It weathered Hurricane Hazel, which in 1954 destroyed much of Myrtle Beach’s oceanfront. It is this building that remains in use today.
The gradual development of the Pavilion Amusement Park on the west side of Ocean Boulevard across from the main Pavilion building began in 1948 when a traveling carnival playing the annual Tobacco Festival in nearby Conway, S.C. caught the interest of Burroughs & Chapin representatives. An agreement was signed, and the carnival stopped traveling, making its home directly in front of and west of the Pavilion. Ice skaters, bear acts, dance troupes and talent shows were also brought in. In 1950 Burroughs & Chapin bought out Central Amusement Company and added that company’s 14 rides to the amusement park. It took 38 trucks to haul in the new rides. Concession stands were also added. After that, the pace of the amusement park’s evolution quickened as
company representatives traveled far and wide in the United States and abroad, searching for new rides for Myrtle Beach’s residents and vacationers to enjoy. When it came to family entertainment, for decades the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park was without peer or competition.
Two of the amusement park’s offerings have been recognized for their historic significance: The Herschell-Spillman Carousel dates back to 1912. Most carousels feature an assortment of horses, while the Pavilion’s carousel features a menagerie of animals including frogs, lions, ostriches, zebras, giraffes, roosters and even dragons. The “lead horse”, which is in fact a horse, is bejeweled and decorated in the finest detail and, as tradition demands, is found on the outside row of the carousel. Of approximately 15 working Herschell-Spillman carousels in the country, it is one of the most elaborate and well-kept machines, protected at night from the wear and tear of the ocean by lowered metal doors.
The Baden Band Organ was built at Waldkirch Baden, Germany by A. Ruth & Sohn, who hand-carved its ornate figurines and decorations from wood. The organ was first exhibited at the World Exposition in Paris in 1900. After the exposition, it was moved from town to town in Europe on a wagon pulled by a team of six horses. The organ is 20-feet long, 11-feet high, seven feet deep and weighs approximately two tons. It has 400 different pipes, 98 keys and still operates with old-style cardboard music, most of which was composed more than 50 years ago. The organ remains in excellent condition, complete with twirling ladies and cherubs that play cymbals, bells and drums.
The Attic (also once referred to as The Magic Attic) is Myrtle Beach’s only non-alcoholic teen nightclub. It features a multi-level dance floor and VIP lounge, a 12-foot video screen, state-of-the-art lighting and sound, Top-40 and other dance music, nationally known live acts and the hottest deejay’s on the beach.
About Burroughs & Chapin Company, Inc.
Burroughs & Chapin Company, a privately held company based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., is a leader in the fields of sports, entertainment and recreation; residential and resort property development; commercial property development and leasing; and property management. The company’s service to Myrtle Beach and Horry County dates back to 1895.
All told, Burroughs & Chapin Company is comprised of more than 76 businesses that include commercial real estate, shopping and office developments; residential and resort real estate subdivisions and developments; accommodations; attractions, recreation and amusements; mortgage and financial services; and more.
Besides The Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park, the company’s better-known entertainment properties are the world-class Myrtle Waves Water Park, the innovative NASCAR SpeedParks (Myrtle Beach, Charlotte, St. Louis, Pigeon Forge, Toronto) and MagiQuest.
Burroughs & Chapin also owns and operates Grande Dunes Resort Golf Course, the private Members Club Golf Course at Grande Dunes, Pine Lake International
Country Club and Myrtlewood Golf Club. The company also manages Tidewater Golf Club, Meadowlands Golf Club and Farmstead Golf Links.
Among the company’s many residential and resort communities are Grande Dunes, a 2,200-acre four-star development that extends from the Atlantic Ocean to west across the Intracoastal Waterway in Myrtle Beach; South Beach Resort, an interval ownership golf and oceanfront resort in Myrtle Beach; and Crown Park Resort, an interval ownership resort in Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Among the company’s many retail and commercial developments are Seaboard Commons, offering name brand big box stores; Broadway at the Beach, an award-winning 250-acre festive shopping, entertainment and dining complex centered around a 22-acre lake in the heart of Myrtle Beach; and Coastal Grand-Myrtle Beach, a 1.5 million square foot shopping mall developed with joint venture partner CBL & Associates Properties of Chattanooga, Tenn.
Burroughs & Chapin Company’s solid reputation as an innovative, visionary business leader has drawn to it the best names in retail development. The company has become the preferred choice in the Myrtle Beach area of leading national franchises and commercial investors entering the market, such as, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Dillards, Belk, Sears, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, The Gap, Barnes & Noble, Tanger Factory Outlets, Kohl’s, Hamricks, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, Toys R Us, Victoria’s Secret, Office Depot, Office Max, and many more.
Burroughs & Chapin Company and its employees also participate in a wide variety of charitable and other not-for-profits fund raising efforts.
Burroughs & Chapin Company welcomes cooperative relationships with people and organizations that have strengths and expertise that complement our own. Company leadership believes that, alone, Burroughs & Chapin can be very successful but by partnering with others, the company can work wonders.
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