MYRTLE BEACH -- The new year will bring new tourist attractions to Myrtle Beach, though the new additions will probably not prove to be as significant as those we've seen over the past couple of years.
The former Pavilion amusement park site remains vacant for now, but come next spring, we'll see a new zip line course opening up on the property.
The ride will be temporary, as the investors have just a four-year lease on the property, but downtown redevelopment officials say it's still a significant addition.
"There are going to be a couple of towers and a building and some landscaping and it's going to be very visible and yet not block the views to the ocean," said David Sebok, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corporation. "It's just another good addition, I think."
A second zip line project, from the same developers, will go up in a vacant lot on the south end of Ocean Boulevard.
Also in 2012, at 15th Avenue North, the former Breakwater Inn and two other old motels will be replaced by an upscale Mexican restaurant and an extension of the boardwalk.
Sebok said it'll improve the look of what had been kind of an eyesore. "Those will all be torn down, some buildings across the street cleaned up, some additional parking created."
Also, Sebok said retail and eating establishments will likely take up a newly-remodeled building at 8th Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard, the site of the former Mother Fletcher's nightclub.
While none of these things will have the same impact as the Myrtle Beach Skywheel, which opened this year, Sebok said those kind of dramatic changes just don't come along every year.
"But I do think we have a number of significant things that collectively will make 2012 another appealing year for our return visitors and for new visitors."
There is a lot of speculation about what will happen to the former Freestyle Music Park. NewsChannel 15 tried to reach a representative of the park Friday, but did not get a call back.
The park was bought out of foreclosure a few months ago by the company that held the mortgage on it, FPI US LLC. Company representative said they want to bring the park back to life in 2012, but so far, they've announced nothing official.
Developers of the Pat Boone Family Theater say they still want to open in 2012, though the project has been delayed a couple of times.
