The Myrtle Beach Pelican’s lease with Myrtle Beach and Horry County only runs through the end of this baseball season.
The Ballpark is located inside the city limits of Myrtle Beach at 21st Avenue North and Bob Grissom Parkway. The stadium needs major upgrades, mandated by the MLB, worth tens of millions.
Major League Baseball standards could cost the city and county close to $60 million in a new stadium or upgrades to the current facility. The MLB will take the Pelicans franchise away from Myrtle Beach should the upgrades not be met.
The City of Myrtle Beach owns 70% of the park and Horry County owns the rest. Talks last year by some members of Myrtle Beach City Council proposed moving the stadium to the $30 million tract at 7th and 8th avenue north purchased by the city.
Those talks quickly faded.
What’s next for the baseball club is uncertain, but some Horry County leaders want out of the baseball deal entirely.
“It’s such a bad investment, the return is probably negative,” Horry County Councilman Gary Loftus said. “If we invest in a subdivision or something like that, at least we get property taxes,” Loftus said. “We don’t get a thing out of this thing.”
“Can we give them our share?” asked one Horry County Councilmember.
“I was thinking the same thing,” North Myrtle Beach Horry County Councilwoman Jenna Dukes said.
“Can we sell them our share for $1?” Loftus asked.
“I’ve been asking that for five years,” councilman Johnny Gardner said.
“Who negotiated that contract is what I want to know,” councilman Al Allen said.
“It’s a horrible contract. The only way we can get out of it is to breach it, which is a possibility,” Horry County Attorney Arrigo Carotti said.