Myrtle Beach Pavilion

The Myrtle Beach Pavilion was a historic pay-per-ride park, no parking fee 11-acre amusement park that was located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the corner of 9th Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, which is just a few blocks down from another Myrtle Beach amusement park the Family Kingdom Amusement Park both in the "heart" of Myrtle Beach. "The Pavilion” had well over 40 different attractions from kids to thrill-seekers alike, and included the wooden rollercoaster Hurricane: Category 5. Despite all the best efforts made by citizens to save the park it was lost to redevelopment in 2007.HistoryBefore the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park, several Pavilions were built before the one that lasted the longest, and all were a product of Burroughs & Chapin, one of the companies responsible for the development of the Myrtle Beach area. Each of the Pavilions had a different architectural style and were even built of different materials, but all served as a place where the community could gather for interaction and entertainment.The first Pavilion that was built in 1908 was a one-story building that was part of Myrtle Beach's first hotel, the now long gone Seaside Inn. It was destroyed by a fire, though the bricks from that site were later used in nearby Conway. The Pavilion was later rebuilt in 1923 as a two-story complex, expanded in 1938, which was hit with another fire in 1944 which burned the building to the ground. It was rebuilt for a third time out of poured concrete, opening in 1949, and had a large wooden dance floor which was located on the second floor along with a stage and grandstands.The amusement park itself began development on the west side of Ocean Boulevard, across the street from the new Pavilion building in 1948. A traveling carnival that had stopped in Conway, SC for the annual Tobacco Festival, but soon found a permanent home across the street from the Pavilion and after the carnival signed an agreement with Myrtle Beach Farms, the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park was born. Numerous acts such as ice skaters, bear acts, and talent shows were immediately brought in to supplement the carnival and also to help boost interest in the new “park.”