Exclusive: Here’s why Myrtle Beach, SC’s downtown skyline will look different after today
Workers are taking down parts of a closed downtown Myrtle Beach zip line attraction, as the owner says it was not his decision to close.
In an interview with The Sun News, Myrtle Beach Zipline Adventures operator Mike Holder said the site closed because Burroughs & Chapin did not renew the lease on the land for the former Pavilion site, giving Holder short notice before it closed in January 2024.
He added workers would finish removing the lines and structure closest to the intersection of 9th Avenue North and U.S. 17 Business by Friday, March 22, 2024, unless impeded by weather.
“It took two months to put up,” Holder said. “One week to take down.”
Holder ran the downtown attraction for eight years, leasing the land from a Burroughs & Chapin-controlled company. He previously had other partners but has run the zip line business alone for the last three years. Burroughs & Chapin did not return a request for comment from The Sun News.
He confirmed that the lease for Myrtle Beach Zipline Adventures contained language that allowed Burroughs & Chapin to remove the zip line if the company ever chose to build something else on the former Pavilion land.
Holder also said business was also a struggle. In addition to the $100,000 cost to remove the zip line, Holder added that installing and remodeling the property cost an additional $600,000. He said the zip line never made enough money to break even.
“After the first year, we were lucky if we cleared $20,000 a year, maybe,” Holder said.
While Myrtle Beach Zipline Adventures is closing, Holder said he’ll open a new location in Florence, S.C., within the next few months. Holder owns the adventure park design, installation and operation company American Adventure Park Systems. Holder also operates the zip line at Historic Banning Mills in Whitesburg, Georgia, and currently runs 11 attractions nationwide.
