Locally Speaking

Hotel makes way for Ferris wheel in Myrtle Beach

Golden Villa coming down for Ferris wheel construction

Crews have started clearing out the two-tower Golden Villa hotel in downtown Myrtle Beach, which will be demolished next week, to make way for a new Ferris wheel.

Al Mers, a partner in Pacific Development, the St. Louis-based company that's bringing the 187-foot-tall SkyWheel to downtown Myrtle Beach, said work is moving ahead as crews remove asbestos from the hotel in preparation for its demolition.

The demolition is scheduled to begin Monday or Tuesday, and Mers said the lot at 1106 N. Ocean Blvd. should be flat by about Oct. 22.

"The first thing people will see going up are the piers," he said. Because the wheel and the adjoining building are being built in the hurricane surge zone, they must be constructed on a deck that will sit 20 feet above sea level - 3 to 4 feet above the ground on the lot.

Piers to hold the wheel's steel frame will sink 30 feet deep, Mers said.

The wheel is part of the ever-changing face of downtown Myrtle Beach.

When the SkyWheel is finished, it will be one of the downtown district's tallest structures. The height limit is 240 feet, and there are nine resort towers that are between 20 and 23 stories, said Fire Marshal Bruce Arnell, including the Ocean Forest Plaza, the Carolina Grand and the Grand Atlantic.

The Slingshot frame is about 170 feet tall and stands on a small hill, and when the SkyWheel is finished, it should be about 200 feet tall.

The wheel is scheduled to open in the first week of May.

The steel frame is being constructed in pieces outside St. Louis, and the "ballooned-out-square" gondolas that will carry riders are being crafted in Switzerland, Mers said.

"They are like what you'd see on a ski lift," he said. "They are the latest upgrade - the fourth generation."

Each gondola is temperature controlled, and because they are clear from floor to ceiling, each will have a slight tint to help keep it cool in the summer and make scenery watching more comfortable.

Once the lot is cleared and prepared, about "50 truck loads" of steel will arrive and be stored in Myrtle Beach, delivered to the site as needed. Mers said the A-frame could be here by December. –Sun News

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Court Gives Go-Ahead To Repossess Freestyle Music Park Property

An Horry County judge has granted one of Freestyle Music Park's creditors the right to reclaim property that sits inside the shuttered park, according to court documents.

VenCore Solutions requested an order to take immediate possession of the property, stating that the property was in immediate danger of destruction. The Oregon-based company had leased a wide variety of property, including shelving units and radios, to Freestyle.

The lawyer for FPI MB, Freestyle's owner, wrote a letter to VenCore confirming that the the property "is currently uninsured and not subject to a hurricane contingency plan," according to an affidavit from James Paul Johnson, VenCore's Chief Operating Officer. The judge granted the order on Sept. 8, stating that it appeared the property was in immediate danger.

B. Keith Poston, VenCore's attorney, said the company instructed him not to comment on the case. Nate Fata, FPI MB's attorney, could not be reached immediately for comment.

It is unclear how VenCore will go about repossessing the property.

VenCore initially leased the property to Hard Rock Park in an agreement that was passed on to Freestyle when it bought the park out of bankruptcy in 2009.

VenCore additionally claims Freestyle owes $1,074,738 for failing to comply with the terms of the leasing agreements.

Freestyle closed after a disappointing first season and did not reopen in 2010. –Sun News