The Myrtle Beach City Government Arts & Innovation District completed the district’s mural which can be seen on Oak Street.
It was painted by City of Myrtle Beach employees last month.
The design is the logo for the Arts & Innovation District, which reflects the area from an aerial view. Locals and visitors can view the mural in the Arts & Innovation District parking lot along Oak Street, behind Grand Strand Brewing.
As MyrtleBeachSC News reported yesterday, Myrtle Beach City Government set the dates for it annual budget retreat with a 2023 focus on downtown redevelopment.
The Arts and Innovation District is a key area of focus in the city’s rebranding the downtown.
The $300+ million 2023/2024 budget will highlight the city’s interest in necessary spending to complete the city block of 7th and 8th avenues north. The area is an entire square running from Ocean Boulevard west to business Highway 17.
The city is actively looking for a large private business to invest partnering with the city for the entire square through a public-private partnership.
Grand Strand Brewing Company was the first private public relationship the city entered in creating the new Arts and Innovation district. More improvements to the areas around Nance Plaza are expected.
According to Myrtle Beach Assistant City Manager Brian Tucker, the city is close to wrapping up the buying process and is ready to begin the planning stages by March 2023.
“We’ve initiated all the conversations we’re going to initiate,” Tucker said. “We’re not actively, aggressively continuing to look for other opportunities but there are some ongoing conversations.”
Four of five other properties the city needs to buy are empty lots. These include the old go-kart track owned by Burroughs & Chapin Company Inc. B&C also owns the former Myrtle Beach Pavilion. The city will need to bring their “A” game to those negotiations.
The old go-kart track sits beside the Midtown Inn, which the city purchased in 2022 for $8.2 million.
“We haven’t made any progress on those five. I don’t want to say impasse, but impasse,” Tucker told MyHorryNews. “We would be open to buying those just because that would be puzzle pieces that fit into creating a contiguous block of land.”