Myrtle Beach Skateboard Park - Myrtle Beach, SC

A red, white, and blue park opened across from an Air Force base on America's Bicentennial

Myrtle Beach's first skatepark came in with a literal and figurative bang on the Fourth of July 1976. The 10,000 square foot bowl was between 4 and 12 feet deep, and contained 4 parallel “roller coaster rounds” in the center.

On opening day, only the beginner’s and intermediate runs were open. The advanced bowl was still under construction, but the surface was marked with clockwise arrows for single traffic flow.

A group of four owners got together to build the park, Charles Floyd, Bill Dobinski, Jimmy Davis and Elton Brunty. Brunty was the local distributor of Hawaiian Tropic Suntan Lotion, so there were many events at the park promoting the suntan lotion brand.

In keeping with the theme of skin protection, co-owner Charles Floyd said the park's concrete was coated with “a special plastic finish to prevent skin burns.”