Sun-News from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina • 8

s' s' s' i -s- 54 1 a' 8A The Sun News Myrtle Beach SC Wednesday Fkbhuaby 18 2009 SfYRTLEBEACHONUNECOM HARD'ROCKPAR KT IHELIN Tuesday Judge in Wilmington Del approves sale to PI MB Entertainment for $25 milfoit FPI plans to reopen the park by Memorial Day Monday A third potential buyer Coastal Entertainment LLC files an objection to the sale of the park to FPI Entertainment and made an offer 1 for the park Feb 11 1 A local group led by Surfside Beach water park owner Mark Lazarus says it wants to buy the shuttered park and reopen it by hme V' FMh 10 1 Tnistee recommends sale of the park to FPI MB Entertainment for $25 million an offer the trustee said in court documents was the best one received 'v latL 2 1 Bankruptcy converted to Chapter 7 Dec 18 1 PARC Management interested in buying the park has a conference cal with Myrtle Beach and Hony County leaders looking for help with the financing Dec 15 An auction nets no new owner no bidden met the minimum $35 mikmbid v- '( Dec 12 1 Bids for the auction due -1- -j Nov 20 1 Judge approves Hard Rod proposal to auction itself off to the highest bidder a October Hard Rock Park says in court documents it wants to sell the park by the end of 2008 'l -7 Sept 28 1 DeutscheBank Trust CaAmerica'sone of Hard Rock Park's top creditors says in a court document that the park's hope for recovery is aid it should start looking for a buyer immediately Sept 24 1 Park files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closes for therestoftheseason-Seventy-fiveemployeeswittrernainduringthe offseason 7 Aug 8 1 Park announces it laid off 25 to 30 employees Juno 23 1 Grand opening celebration The Eagles and The Moody Blues -perform 'S i May 9 1 Official opening regular hours 7 -7 a April 15 Park opens with Kmitql hours rides By Lisa Flkbhki For TV Sun Newt David Wesson (second from right) leaves bankruptcy court with lawyer Bonnet Young (far right) and the other principals of FPI MB Entertainment after a Judge approved sale of the parktoFPI Giuliano said A group led by local waterpark owner Mark Lazarus had said it was interested in purchasing the 55-acre park that sits on 140 acres of land but he did not attend hearing During the hearing the judge took Coastal Entertainment to task for the timing of its bid The park filed fin: bankruptcy in September and has been searching for a buyer since October want to find out where have you Carey asked Bifferato has beerf a sale cade since last fall maybe earlier than that Are you telling me your clients just found out this park was for He also asked what the people behind Coastal Entertainment do for a living but Bifferato said she was not sure what she was at liberty to disclose Michael Dickey ah assistant professor at the Charleston School of Law said he's not surprised at the outcome A private sale is not unusual in bankruptcy proceedings but the short time frame in this case is he said unusual here is the time compression element These guys have to go he said all Coastal Entertainment investors were going to throw in was another $500000 Tm not surprised it didn't get very The $400 million Hard Rock Park opened in April and closed and filed for bankruptcy in September It said it employed 2000 people at its peak Employees were sent W-2 forms in the mail two weeks ago Giuliano said PARK From Page 1A about three months to get it ready including adding rides arranging merchandising and new attractions and shows the company has said in court documents The new owners include representatives of Baker Leisure Group an Orlando-based theme park management company that plans to manage the daily onerations absolutely thrilled with the bankruptcy decision Tuesday and we look forward to opening the park in the May David Wasson a principal with FPI MB Entertainment said as he left the hearing Tuesday He would not say what was in store for season ticket holders FPI is made up of Roundbox Advisors Freestyle Kirk International a division of MT Development Baker Leisure Group Thomas M- Hiles of Wilmington NC and Tim Duncan of Myrtle Beach according to a statement Tuesday from Brandon Adver- tising which represents FPL Hfles and Duncan were two of the founding members of the original Hard Rock Park and Duncan served on the board of directors of the park Duncan said that FPTs next -steps will be discussed at a meeting today think the main players are going to be in town today" he said He said it was an all cash deal There could be changes made to the park even if it does keep the Hard Rock name but the Baker Leisure Group is to Deutsche Bank with some money left over for lawyers and administrators Between $300000 and $400000 mil be left to be divided among bondholders who are owed about $255 million said John Carroll the attorney There might be other minimal cash for those owed doubt well ever see that said David Griffin president of Coastal Commercial Roofing Co in Conway to which Hard Rock Park owes $2320787 the time they get to us there be any money company did some roofing work fin: the park last summer but only received about a third of the money it was owed he said have somebody buy it and they can run it more Griffin said Anyone else who had been interested in buying the park is out of luck trustee Fred Local officials were hopeful Tuesday about the prospect of the park reopening got to be a shot in the arm for tourism this year which is looking a bit said Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland this will encourage even more folks who may tike one small vacation to come our Hugh Owens president of the Myrtle Beach Regional rallies had no negative impacts on his two sons one who is studying engineering at Clem-son University and another who is in the UR Navy wait whenever bike week but they grew up all he told council members Both sides presented petitions supporting their cause to the council A group of businesses called Business Owners Organized to Save Tourism suggested other options such as a sign campaign asking Inkers to keep quiet and a task force of businesses to help deal with problem venues Sherry Smith who lives in Economic Development Corp has been involved in trying to woo buyers delighted that some- body is going to pick up the park and run Owens said what we had hoped all along is that a buyer could be found that would see the potential in the park and run it as a viable Staff reporter Jessica Foster contributed to this report Myrtle Beach implored council members to pass the ordinance She said when her father-in-law passed away in May last year Conway police were too busy with the rallies to provide police protection for a funeral procession the last few years the May bike rallies have been like a she said siege lasts a total of about three weeks with hundreds of thousand of bikes literally trapped in our homes trying to escape the constant noise and extremely dangerous Contact MIKE CHERNEY at 444-1765 COUNCIL From Page 1A vendors can set up shop during the rallies and how long they can sell their wares It initially voted' against doing so but council members then recalled their vote The county effort at controll-ing the rallies comes after the city of Myrtle Beach passed a set of ordinances aimed at eliminating them The Harley-Davidson spring rally and the Atlantic Beach Bikefest both in May attract about 250000 people each to the area Some residents have said they are fed up with noise congestion and rowdy behavior but some businesses and bikers say efforts to curtail the rallies are discriminatory and would deal a blow to the economy East of the Intracoastal Waterway the council decided to allow 25 vendor permits working out those details Duncan said He also said people would likely be with the admission price when it reopens Tickets last year were $50' Hard Rock International has already removed some memorabilia from the park but not all the memorabilia it expected to find said Richard Robinson a lawyer for the cafe company Robinson said he didn't know whether it was because the list of memorabilia was wrong or whether some of it had been stolen FPI had wrestled Coastal Entertainment in court over their competing bids FPI said offer was only better on the surface and that it would not cover $2 million in taxes administrative expenses and other contracts that were included in bid Most of the money more than $20 million will go toward cqvering several debts between the Georgetown County line and SC 544 50 permits between SC 544 and UJS 501 arid 75 permits from UJS 501 to North Carolina Between the waterway and the Waccamaw River the council voted to allow 75 permits south of UJS 501 and 75 permits north of it West of the river the council voted to allow 100 For the 2008 spring Harley-Davidson rally most of the about 400 permits issued were east of the waterway Some council members hope the changes will solve some of the complaints about noiBe congestion and rowdy behavior without destroying the rallies The price of a permit was kept at $800 for those east of the waterway the same as in 2008 for the Harley-Davidson rally But the price was decreased to $500 elsewhere to give vendors an incentive to go westward and avoid setting in already-congested areas last year's all-time high of near $50 million Last year was the highest year ever Prosser said and it's quite a shock to see this funding the lowest in a decade He announced his plans to concentrate on marketing SC to the states close enough for visitors to drive and said the new travel Web site wwwdrivetasccom went live Tuesday to coincide with the conference One of the features on the site shows people how many tanks of gas they will use getting to South Carolina from their home For example alxMit three quarters of a tank from Atlanta to South Carolina and Atlanta is this year's target market because of its large population The tyiri-sn bureau is drop Free Estimate Installation I Proven Track Record in Quality Service We are the Factory! 1 Plantation Shutters Made in foe USA1 Fauxwood Vertical Blinds Shades 'Solar Shades Motorization moie MMIlUl AAA BLIND I SHUTTER FACTORY 843-280-6877 9 liny 90 East Little River SC 29566 and Councilmen Marion Foxworth Harold Worley Paul Prince Jody Prince and James Frazier Councilmen Howard Barnard Brent Schulz Carl Schwartzkopfi A1 Allen and Bob Grabowski voted no' according to county spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier Councilman Gary Loftus was absent due to surgery Grabowski said earlier in the meeting that the down economy and Myrtle efforts would tame the rallies so more regulations were not required Barnard though had argued for issuing only 50 vendor permits east of the waterway and south of US 50L folks that live on the south end in the economic end we spent every penny we own and have put it into our he said should we have to give three weeks of living in paradise aside so that somebody else has an opportunity to make money at our The council also granted final approval to beefed-up special event permitting regulations for outdoor events It would require a permit for gatherings of more than 500 people and for events with attractions like burn-out pits or wet T-shirt contests The council heard from a divided public at the meeting Rally supporters mostly sat on side of the room with opponents on the other side I can say is please all vote your said Murrells Inlet resident Cal Harrelson who supported the proposal the children We're talking dollars versus children Please make the right But George Aalqer a biker who runs a tree service and lives in Myrtle Beach said the about what travelers are looking for now After three studies she said she and others have found that more than 55 million travelers are seeking an authentic experience when they visit a new place getting to know the real culture About 50 percent will spend time at cultural festivals or eating local or ethnic cuisine They also expect that businesses are going green she said and value rewards programs because they seek value for their money There's a growing trend toward in which people want to be able to participate in activities that give back to the communities they visit through volunteer work Contact IORENA ANDERSON at 444 1722 along the coast The ordinance that passed Tuesday was amended from the original ordinance It initially allowed for only 100 permits east of the waterway 100 between the river and the waterway and 200 west of the river The original proposal also limited permits east of the waterway to large shopping centers of more than 35 acres but the council decided to do away with that requirement in the final motion Some had said the 85-acre requirement discriminated against small businesses Originally permits would be restricted to five days for the Harley-Davidson rally and four days for the Atlantic Beach rally But the council voted Tuesday to extend it to seven days fin: the Harley-Davidson rally The final vote was 6-5 Voting for the proposal was Gilland ping its national TV ads but is increasing its online presence and adding radio spots in Atlanta because the majority of workers there commute many for half an hour or more Even with the new marketing campaign Prosser said 2009 is going to be rough year But the news isn't all bad are the solution to the state's budget problems because for eveiy $1 that goes out on tourism we get $3 Prosser said better off than some other industries We haven't seen as much decline and we can work through Tourism and travel representatives from all across tlie state also had the chance to sit in on a di-cuv-iun with Dawn Drew vice president of National Geographic's Global Media: Travel division who talked Blackjaek'Craps'Roulette Let-lt-Ride'3 Card Poker Lots of Slots! I CSESi-wCMKSstlSai AM tfrVCvm CASH BACK Players Club! CASINO By Rkhia Kit-Nki ritomig thnwvm com Robert Kelley of Boost a group organized In support of the rallies addresses the Horry County Council before the final vote on two bike-rally related ordinances (843) 249-981iimbi9RICasin0C0m The (hrolinas evest Most luxurious (asino Ship! it TOURISM From Page JA Though leisure travelers still intend to take vacations this summer in the same numbers as last year travel industry surveys show spending is likely to be down by as much as 6 percent One of the challenges South Carolina and especially the Myrtle Beach area will face is the glut of hotel rooms that need to be filled The number of rooms increased by 2 million over the past three years to 37 million ard room rates could be filling Tourism marketing money from the state has been cut by $17J) million to a little more than £70 million a charge from February Promotions Every Sunday in Flat Screen Jr Every Wednesday ight Prime Rib RufTet Eveiy Thursdcy 'ight Italian Buffet Valentines Day wn His Her atch Sd WIN Theater System Itlipuara' inclmlcs: Flat Screen I Blu ray DVD Bose Surround Sound Zt rs C-: "yrnr 5.