__NOTOC__ Broadway at the Beach is a shopping center and entertainment complex located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Broadway at the Beach is owned and operated by Burroughs & Chapin. The $250 million attraction is set on in the heart of Myrtle Beach and features three theaters, over 20 restaurants and over 100 specialty shops as well as attractions, Clubs for the night, and hotels, all surrounding the Lake Broadway. Broadway at the Beach receives upwards of 14 million visitors annually.

Overview

The complex is divided into several distinct zones named New England Fishing Village, Caribbean Village, Charleston Boardwalk, Heroes Harbor and Celebrity Square, a warehouse district-themed nightclub district that stays open later than the rest of the districts. The complex is home to many attractions, such as the Ripley's Aquarium,

Legends In Concert Legends in Concert is a live tribute artist production with shows primarily located in Las Vegas, Nevada; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Branson, Missouri; Mashantucket, Connecticut; Waikiki, Hawaii; Foley, Alabama and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Leg ...

WonderWorks ''WonderWorks'' is an anthology series which ran from 1984 to 1992. Produced by the Public Broadcasting Service, the Walt Disney Company purchased the home video rights to the series in 1987 and was responsible for making the series available t ...

Hollywood Wax Museum The Hollywood Wax Museum is a wax museum featuring replicas of celebrities located on Hollywood Boulevard in the tourist district in Hollywood, California, with other locations in Myrtle Beach, Branson, and Pigeon Forge. Among the wax replicas on ...

and the Pavilion Nostalgia Park, which features rides from the former Myrtle Beach Pavilion. The complex contains three hotels, a

Hampton Inn Hampton by Hilton, formerly known (and still commonly referred to) as Hampton Inn or Hampton Inn & Suites, is an American chain of hotels trademarked by Hilton Worldwide. The Hampton hotel brand is a chain of moderately priced, budget to midscale ...

located inside the complex, and a Fairfield Inn and

Holiday Inn Express Holiday Inn Express is a mid-priced hotel chain within the InterContinental Hotels Group family of brands. Originally founded as an "express" hotel, their focus is on offering limited services at a reasonable price. Standard amenities lean tow ...

located across 29th Avenue North in a section named Lakeshore at Broadway. The Heroes Harbor zone includes a replica of the

Morris Island Light Morris Island Light is a lighthouse on Morris Island in South Carolina. The light stands on the southern side of the entrance to Charleston Harbor, north of the City of Folly Beach. At 161 ft (49 m), it is the tallest lighthouse in South Car ...

atop a bar.

History

Burroughs & Chapin announced the project in 1993. The July 4, 1995 grand opening included Senator Strom Thurmond and Governor

David Beasley David Muldrow Beasley (born February 26, 1957) is an American politician and the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme. A member of the Republican Party, he served one term as the 113th Governor of South Carolina from 199 ...

. The first attractions included Hard Rock Cafe and Palace Theatre (which once hosted

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and

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). A horseshoe shaped area ran from Celebrity Square to the “Generations at Play” fountain. Additional stores came later, along with

Grissom Parkway Robert M. Grissom Parkway, locally known as Grissom Parkway, is a major four-lane connector highway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The road begins at Harrelson Boulevard near Myrtle Beach International Airport and terminates in Carolina Forest, ...

. Nearby U.S. 17 Bypass attracted more development. In November 1996, a

Planet Hollywood Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet Hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a themed restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl Ent ...

and All Star Cafe opened in the "Lakeshore at Broadway" district. The high-profile grand opening of the two restaurants in 1997 attracted celebrities such as

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

, Jennifer Love Hewitt and

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

. In October 2010,

Legends in Concert Legends in Concert is a live tribute artist production with shows primarily located in Las Vegas, Nevada; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Branson, Missouri; Mashantucket, Connecticut; Waikiki, Hawaii; Foley, Alabama and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Leg ...

held its last show in nearby Surfside Beach before moving to the site of Club Kryptonite (which originally housed the All Star Cafe) in 2011.

, described as "a science attraction housed in an upside-down building", opened April 4, 2011. On April 1, 2012, Backstage Mirror Maze and The Vault Laser Maze opened. The maze attraction recalls an actual

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from the 1930s. IMAX 3D

Following Labor Day weekend in 2015, both

and

MagiQuest MagiQuest is an interactive attraction in the form of a live action role-playing game where players take the role of magic users. The game takes place in dedicated MagiQuest locations. Players, known as Magi, use an infrared (IR) emitting wand t ...

closed, and the globe-shaped Planet Hollywood building was demolished the following month. Around the same time, several clubs in the Celebrity Square district, including Revolutions and Carlos'n Charlie's announced that they would close in November. Some people living in the area expressed concern that Burroughs & Chapin wanted to drop adult attractions for a more family-oriented development. On February 3, 2015, changes were announced that included the city's first

Dave & Buster's Dave & Buster's is an American restaurant and entertainment business headquartered in Dallas. Each Dave & Buster's has a full-service restaurant and a video arcade. As of October 2022, the company has 151 locations in the United States and two ...

as well as American Tap House and OZ nightclub. A new 15,043-square-foot

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and r ...

opened in 2016. The landmark Hard Rock pyramid was demolished in fall 2016 to make way for the new Dave & Buster's. Additionally, a

Wahlburgers Wahlburgers Franchising LLC, doing business as Wahlburgers (stylized as wahlburgers), is a casual dining burger restaurant and bar chain. It is owned by chef Paul Wahlberg and his brothers, actors Donnie and Mark. , there are 49 Wahlburgers ...

location opened in fall 2016, replacing the former Club Rodeo. The former Carlos'n Charlie's restaurant is home to a two-story restaurant called

Paula Deen Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and Paula Deen's Creek House with her sons, Jamie ...

’s Family Kitchen. Malibu’s Surf Bar, Crocodile Rocks, Original Shucker’s Raw Bar and the Carolina Comedy Club would stay where they were. In addition, the Celebrity Square district received a facelift to replace the aging "French Quarter" facade with a more contemporary style reminiscent of a warehouse district. In 2017 Celebrity Square was officially renamed "The Avenue"; all signage referencing Celebrity Square were subsequently removed. The façade of the 2700-seat Palace Theatre received major damage from

Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was an extremely powerful Atlantic hurricane which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since ...

in October 2016. Along with water damage, the situation led the city to declare the building "unfit for human occupancy" in January 2017 unless repairs were made. Hurricane Bonnie caused similar damage in 1998, but the theater had been more successful and repairs were still possible. On April 11, 2017, Chapin Company said the building would be torn down; the building was demolished starting April 25, 2017. One of the new attractions for 2018 was the 360 Observation Wheel, a

Ferris Wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...

with 36 gondolas that will seat six, and a million lights that can flash along with music. In August 2018, a 4D ride based on ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' opened, housed in a replica of The Aztec theater from the series. Next door, a gift shop modeled after

Kwik-E-Mart The Kwik-E-Mart (spelled "Quick-E-Mart" in "Bart the General") is a convenience store in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It is a parody of American convenience stores, such as 7-Eleven and Cumberland Farms, and depicts many of th ...

sells in-series merchandise such as Buzz Cola, Lard Lad Donuts, and Squishees. It was announced on December 11, 2018, that Broadway Louie's, a sports and karaoke bar, would be closing after 20 years following the venues New Year's Eve bash. No reason was given for the closing of the venue. On August 8, 2019, after 23 years, the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

Classic Broadway 16 had its final showings and later closed. It previously operated as a

Carmike Carmike Cinemas was a motion picture exhibitor headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. As of March 2016, the company had 276 theaters with 2,954 screens in 41 states, and was the fourth largest movie theater chain in the United States. The company b ...

theater before AMC acquired Carmike. Also, there was an additional theater called the IMAX Theater which later became the Big-D Theater that was operated by Carmike and later AMC. It was demolished a month later in September. On March 15, 2021, it was announced that there is a new tenant for the space previously occupied by Oz nightclub. The Charles Bach Wonders Theatre will be moving into the space and will begin offering three show daily starting on June 4, 2021. On April 17, 2021, Broadway at the Beach announced the return of weekly firework shows this summer as well as several new merchants. The firework shows will return in June with shows taking place every Tuesday starting June 8. New merchants include: Byrd's Famous Cookies (a cookie, snack and gift company), Fresh-Up (a lite bite eatery featuring smoothies, juices, bubble waffles and other treats), The Broadway Theater (feature Le Grand Cirque as its very first show from May 20 through the end of October. Hot Jersey Nights Christmas Special will be featured in November and December), Retro Active 2. Located next to Build A Bear Workshop (a must-stop shop for the best in pop culture and music from the ’90s through the favorites of today) It'Sugar recently opened a Sour Patch Kids store inside their space for both sweet and sour candy fans.

Gallery

File:Hollywood Wax Museum - Myrtle Beach SC.jpg, The

, originally NASCAR Cafe File:Hard Rock Cafe pyramid in Myrtle Beach.JPG, Hard Rock Cafe prior to relocation in 2015, currently Dave & Buster's File:Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, S. Carolina.jpg, Pavilion Nostalgia Park File:WonderWorks Myrtle Beach, USA.jpg,

File:PH-MBeach.jpg, Former Planet Hollywood, demolished in 2015; current site of Carolina Ale House

References

External links

Burroughs & Chapin Company, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadway At The Beach 1996 establishments in South Carolina Shopping malls in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Shopping malls established in 1996 Landmarks in South Carolina Aquaria in South Carolina