Issue 26, January 16, 1997
Ronnie Milsap, who has been performing at his namesake theater in Fantasy Harbour for the last couple of years, will be leaving Myrtle Beach to resume touring around the country. His last performance will be May 24. Milsap said he has enjoyed his stay in Myrtle Beach, but it was time to move on. He will be recording a new album soon, and the tour will be in support of this.
In his place will be the All-American Music Theater, beginning in July. This will be a music and variety show with a set of 20 house performers, including singers, dancers, and a small orchestra. The show will be entitled "From Nashville to Broadway".
The regular show at the Alabama Theater (that is, the one that is performed on most weekday evenings when there isn't a guest performer appearing), is changing also. The American Pride Show will be replaced with Celebration '97 on February 17. It will be the same general style of show, and be produced by the same company, Opryland Productions. Tickets are $25, $9 for children.
Alligator Adventure is closed until February 13. The popular attraction is readying several new exhibits, including one for a Komodo Dragon, one of the largest lizards in the world at ten feet long and 300 pounds.
The owners of the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team are still taking a close look at Myrtle Beach. The single-A team must relocate by 1998 so that a AAA team can begin playing in Durham (the new AAA Durham team will retain the name 'Durham Bulls'). Myrtle Beach is one of three cities being looked at. Wilmington, N.C., just 70 miles from Myrtle beach, and Williamsburg, Virginia, are the other two locations. The team would like for its new city to build it a stadium, but Grand Strand area governments have been reluctant to commit any money, since other needs such as roads are more critical.
The new expanded convention center in Myrtle Beach has been doing a booming business, with 1996 seeing twice the traffic as the previous year. Officials are talking about the need to double the center's size again, and build an adjacent hotel facility to further expand convention visits.
South Carolina's conservative governor David Beasley, elected with much help from the Moral Majority, doesn't care for gambling, and wants to do something about the proliferating mini-casinos of video poker in the state, particularly along the Grand Strand. The administration is considering new regulations for now instead of new legislation, but any changes could open up the state to lawsuits from current businesses. Each video poker 'business' can only have five machines, must have a full-time employee on staff at all times, and must have separate fire walls and utility meters. In spite of all the regulations, operators can still turn a profit on multiple businesses under one roof, and the mini-casinos have sprung up. A possible new regulation would limit each building to five machines. Industry spokesmen say that 2,000 jobs in Horry County alone, and $4 million in statewide tax revenues, are at stake. Any regulation change that does not 'grandfather' existing operations would probably result in lawsuits.
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