So long to the Pavilion

Yes, I know this is a group dedicated to celebrating NORTH Carolina heritage. But so many thousands of North Carolinians have spent their summers at and around the Myrtle Beach Pavilion that it behooves me to mention its sad demise.

In fact, the ASHEVILLE Citizen-Times talked with several mountain residents who are sad to see the Pavilion go.

On Sept. 24, after 58 memorable years, this 11-acre Grand Strand landmark will shut down for good.

Located directly on Ocean Boulevard, the Pavilion has always been a family favorite, a place to see and be seen. To ride the rides, eat footlong hotdogs and dance at Attic, a club right on the ocean.

“We’ve been going down there since our kids were small, at least 48 years,” said Betty Ann Young, whose family owns Mountain Air, an exclusive community of homes in Burnsville.

“That was the highlight of our trip,” she said of the Pavilion. “Sam (one of their sons) would beg from the time we left here, until we got there, to be sure we could go down to the carnival. That’s what we called it.”

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest Myrtle Beach fan in the world, but it's hard to argue with the impact that the loss of the Pavilion will have on those who have grown up there.

Last March, park owner Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. announced the park would close for good in September.

No more funnel cakes. No more teen dancing at the Attic or carousel rides.

No meeting up with friends and taking spins through the Haunted House, the Mad Mouse or trying their luck at the game booths.

The news hit longtime Asheville resident Allen Boyd like a blow to the chest. “WHAT?” he yelled into the telephone. “No, no, no! That’s an institution, a sin right up there with adultery, lying and murder. That’s like tearing down the Statue of Liberty or filling in the Grand Canyon.”

A bit of a stretch? No doubt. But the end of an era indeed.

R.I.P. Pavilion.