A request from the city of Myrtle Beach for a $7 million grant to expand the convention center is expected to be approved by the state Budget and Control Board today after being delayed at a September meeting.

Gov. Mark Sanford still was reviewing the proposal late Monday and his staff would not say if he would vote for it, but the other four members of the state's financial governing board have said they are in favor of the request.

"We're still reviewing some of the information we've received about the project," said Joel Sawyer, Sanford's spokesman, late Monday afternoon.

Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride wrote Sanford asking that the vote be postponed again for further study, but Sawyer could not say if Sanford would ask for another delay.

The Myrtle Beach City Council asked that the item be placed on the agenda. Eric Shytle, the city's bond attorney, wrote the board Oct. 11 saying the city wants the issue decided.

The money would come from the sale of bonds for economic development.

The city intends to expand the convention center into an international trade center by adding 42 acres on the north-
east side of the existing tract. Then 350,000 square feet would be added to the convention center.

The addition would provide 100,000 square feet more of exhibit space, 40,000 square feet of ballroom space and 44,000 square feet of meeting rooms along with additional parking.

The project, seen by political and tourism leaders as part of a triad for economic development that also includes a new airport and Interstate 73, would cost $85.1 million.

The city expects to have about $78.1 million from local and federal funds.

Sawyer said the governor's concern is that when state money is spent, "we should be able to quantify the rate of return."

Sanford wants to be sure it is "a wise use of taxpayer dollars," Sawyer said.

Sanford voted at the board meeting in September for $7 million for a civic center in Greenville, but he said the information was sufficient to show the project would bring a return to the state's economy.

McBride said he favors expanding Myrtle Beach's convention center, but the city has no definite plan for the project or how to pay for it.

The law that established the fund that could include the $7 million did not require specific plans for eligible projects.

The project's champion is state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, who is one of the five board members.

He asked that the vote be postponed from the September meeting because he could not attend in person and was trying to participate in the meeting by phone.