Posted on Fri, Nov. 03, 2006

MB considers arts center idea

Consultant lauds $18 million concept for old mall site

By Lisa Fleisher

The Sun News

The Sun News 11032006 MB considers arts center idea 

A new arts center with several performance spaces at the former Myrtle Square Mall site would be Myrtle Beach's best option to improve its theater scene and foster culture, a consultant told the Myrtle Beach City Council on Thursday.

The center would cost about $18 million - including a $3 million endowment and not including land or infrastructure - said Louise Stevens, a consultant hired by the Rivoli Theatre Group.

Renovating the Rivoli, originally the focus of an intensive campaign to save the nearly half-century-old structure, is not the city's best option, she said.

"It's not the solution," said Stevens, founder of the Montana-based ArtsMarket consulting group. "It's not going to solve all the needs of all of your groups. It's not going to give you the type of profile you want for this region and all of its visitors."

Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. has said it was considering incorporating arts facilities into plans for the 57-acre site. On Wednesday, representatives of the Rivoli group presented Burroughs & Chapin with the study, which said the city should consider a land swap with Burroughs & Chapin, said Rachel Broadhurst, the Rivoli Theatre Group chairwoman.

The proposed center would have performance spaces of several sizes: a main hall of 750 seats, a 250-seat recital hall, lobby area, an outdoor amphitheatre, studios, rehearsal rules, banquet rooms and a "black box" space - a small theater space, painted all black, without a fixed stage.

The consultant first referenced several expensive projects in other cities, such as a $50 million center in Virginia Beach in construction that seats 1,200. She said she was a fiscal conservative, and knew that some performing arts centers were built too big and failed.

She predicted the Myrtle Beach center would have a $1.2 million budget per year and would need a $3 million endowment from the beginning. She said it would be expected to bring 92,000 visitors to the city and have a $7.7 million economic impact annually.

Mayor John Rhodes criticized the Rivoli board for not doing enough fundraising. "I don't see them having that group that's going to go out and knock on doors and really try to work hard to get the money," he said.

Councilwoman Susan Grissom Means shot back, saying the group has worked hard, including an effort selling carousel horses that raised more than $350,000. Broadhurst, a former city councilwoman, acknowledged that they have not done enough, but said it was easier to raise money for a project with a clear goal in hand.

"We can't go out and raise money for a mysterious place that's going to be somewhere that's going to have some mysterious thing that might be a theater," Broadhurst said.

The group has raised almost $600,000, including a $50,000 state grant delivered Thursday by Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach. The city promised the group $5 million in a future bond issue.

The city bought the theater in 1999 for $700,000, and a group of residents has been raising money since then for its renovation. Earlier this year, the city found out that it needed to remove asbestos from the structure. With construction costs rising, the projected price tag on a full renovation has risen to at least $5 million.

Councilman Wayne Gray questioned the consultant's predictions for how many people would use the facility.

Pressed by the council, Stevens said she would scale down the lobby and reduce the seats in the amphitheater if she had to give up parts of the plan.