MYRTLE BEACH—The City of Myrtle Beach may completely change the landscape of the Withers Swash District.
Michael Guthrie of InForm Studio, a city-hired architectural consultant, unveiled a proposal to re-construct the district.
The project is just a concept being proposed to the city at this point, but if the project happens the way it’s being proposed, it would connect a 4.2 mile area in the heart of Myrtle Beach.
The area includes Broadway at the Beach, the new boardwalk being built along Ocean Boulevard, the old pavilion site, and the Withers Swash Park area off 3rd Avenue.
Guthrie says the project could bring tens of thousands of jobs to the area, re-vitalize the ecosystem, and bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the city.
The project calls for construction to begin at the intersection of U.S. 501 and 3rd Avenue South. New pavements and an extension of the boardwalk being constructed would be built running down 3rd Avenue through Withers Swash Park, all the way to the ocean.
The construction would loop around U.S. 501 and extend to Broadway at the Beach and back down to the old pavilion site.
“Myrtle Beach is primarily known as a tourist destination. But it has a tremendous amount of potential to become so much larger than that. When you talk about where is downtown Myrtle Beach, you know where is the ‘there’ there. It lacks a little bit of identity,” said Guthrie.
An amphitheatre, environmental center, and cultural art trail are just some of the concepts in the proposal that would bring jobs to the area
“I think that’s a little far-fetched. I think it would be down the road a ways. I think it would be a wonderful thing but I think it’s way down the road,” said Barbara Patrick, a resident in the Withers Swash District.
The Withers Swash plan could give the local economy a boost, but city leaders say cleaning up the environment is the focal point of the plan.
“Before we had development all around it, it was the natural basin that has one of the most diverse ecological habitats you could As a big part of this, we’re looking to do oyster-reef restoration,” said Guthrie.
Guthrie says it’s too early to put a cost on the project.
He says similar projects in Austin, Texas brought 40,000 jobs to that area and brought over one-hundred million dollars in business to Greenville, South Carolina.
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