Described as a monument to old-time Myrtle Beach, The H.B. Springs office building will be moved across town to make room for further expansion of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion amusement park.
“We want to keep the building intact,” said architect Dennis Springs, whose family owns the Springs Co. insurance office at 810 N. Kings Highway. “From a family standpoint and from a historical standpoint, we think the building is of significant value.”
Plans call for the 62-year-old building to be moved to a 1.5-acre spot on Oak Street between NationsBank and Coastal Federal Savings Bank early next year. A United Carolina Bank branch and some additional office space also will be built on the Oak Street site.
Springs said construction of new office space and the bank should begin within the next month, but the old Springs building won’t be moved until February.
“We want to get the new building to the point where we can occupy it, ” he said, “and then move the old building.”
The Springs family plans to trade its Kings Highway site to Pavilion owner Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. in exchange for the Oak Street site.
“The deal hasn’t yet been concluded,” Burroughs & Chapin spokesman Gordon Hirsch said. “But if it is, the Springs property will be absorbed into the Pavilion.”
Negotiations between the Springs family and Burroughs & Chapin have been ongoing since the Pavilion’s 1993 expansion, when the 58-year-old Colonial Building adjacent to the Springs site was torn down to make room for a Hydro Surge water ride.
The Colonial Building demolition didn’t sit well with Springs building owner Albert Springs, who complained that Myrtle Beach was abandoning its historical sites.
“The only history we’ll have is T-shirt shops and girlie shows,” Springs said at the time.
Albert Springs wouldn’t comment on his building’s latest fate, but Dennis Springs said he thinks the move to Oak Street will be positive for both sides.
“It’s progress and a win-win situation,” Dennis Springs said. “That old site is the one last cog in Burroughs & Chapin’s master plan for the Pavilion. They’re getting what they want and my family is getting room to expand its office.”
Built in 1933 when there was little more than sand dunes nearby, the Springs building has since been crowded by the Pavilion’s carousels, roller coasters and water rides.
When the amusement park was expanded two years ago, the Hydro Surge ride was built right up against the back wall of the Springs building.
With the Pavilion pushing the building on one side and downtown Myrtle Beach deteriorating on the other, photographer and local historian Jack Thompson said he’s happy to see the Springs family move its building to a more appropriate location on Oak Street.
“That’s a more proper place for an insurance business because Oak Street is the financial center of the city,” Thompson said. “As much as it hurts me to see them leave downtown, it’s perfectly understandable.
“There comes a time when history has to step aside for progress,” he added.
“The downtown area has simply grown in a different direction away from historical preservation and revitalization.”
