Trade center could get $7 million

COLUMBIA - A trade center project for Myrtle Beach has a chance to receive up to $7 million in state money because of a provision that Pee Dee senators slipped into a massive economic development bill.

"This is one of the greatest tourism opportunities in the state of South Carolina," said Sen. Yancey McGill, D-Kingstree, who wrote the provision.

The measure passed the House on Thursday but ran into a delay in the Senate. Supporters say they are confident it will pass Tuesday.

Tourism and business leaders want to convert the Myrtle Square Mall property, where stores are shutting down as the new Coastal Grand Myrtle Beach mall opens, into an international trade and convention center.

The trade center's major financial holdup has been a lack of state funding.

If the Senate approves the appropriation, community leaders think it will make the private sector and local public bodies more likely to contribute money.

The bill gives an 18-month window of opportunity from the time the measure is signed to apply for money to buy land.

Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman Shep Guyton said leaders likely wouldn't buy the entire property; they need between 28 and 32 acres, and the cost of the land is estimated between $21 million and $24 million.

Cost of the entire project isn't known.

Myrtle Beach officials were encouraged by the news but aren't sure how extensively they'll be able to contribute.

"I definitely think the city's interested," Mayor Mark McBride said. "But we've got to see what kind of contribution there is on the state level. [The center] would be a tremendous asset, but we certainly can't afford it by ourselves."

Officials in Horry County, which has been consistently hesitant to contribute, say this legislative provision wouldn't force their hands into their pocketbooks.

"We don't have any excess funds," Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said. "Most of us on the council feel like the county is doing our best to provide the infrastructure, which includes a strong network of roads and the airport, both of which are a vital component of the package it takes to have a successful trade center. That's a huge contribution, and that's our contribution toward it."

The bill doesn't specify an amount of money that is available or the terms under which it would be granted.

Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, who put the provision into the bill, said the project is eligible for economic development bonds approved in an earlier law. Those bonds have $6 million to $8 million not yet allocated, he said.

To get the money, applicants must make a case to the Joint Bond Review Committee, which he leads, and if that is successful would then go to the state Budget and Control Board.

Applicants would be expected to show they have federal and private support for the project, Leatherman said.

"We're already requesting money out of Washington," McGill said, adding that the prospects look good.

The trade center was among items local business and government leaders discussed last week with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham during a lobbying trip to Washington for Interstate 73. Graham did not promise federal money, those who met with him said, but he promised to try to get some.

The provision was added during a meeting of three House and three Senate members to try to resolve differences in an economic development act that began last year as a way to boost scientific research at the universities to attract a pharmaceutical firm.

The changes drew a few angry responses during floor debate.

On the Senate floor, Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, complained that members were being asked to act without studying the changes.

He said the trade center addition appeared to be "kind of a bailout for that project down there."

Leatherman said the trade center is needed to create jobs not just in the Myrtle Beach area but in surrounding counties that depend on hotel and restaurant jobs in the tourism sector.

"The beneficiary here is not a rich part of the state that needs no help," Sen. Luke Rankin, D-Myrtle Beach, said.

Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach, responded to the complaints as well. "I didn't hear all of these arguments when we were trying to get BMW and Mack in here," he said. The state gave major tax concessions and infrastructure money for both those projects.

Staff writers Dawn Bryant and Erin Reed contributed to this report.