Old Myrtle Beach Inn Torn Down

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) _ A three-story brick hotel that has survived major hurricanes has been torn down in Myrtle Beach. The oceanfront Chesterfield Inn was demolished Wednesday to make way for new development, a miniature golf course and restaurant set to open in February. The hotel had opened in the 1940s. The owners said it wasn’t economical to renovate and update the inn, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It had hardwood floors, clapboard ceilings, bathroom tiles and louver doors. Rocking chairs lined the second-floor porch. Many vacationers today expect lazy rivers and in-room kitchens and other amenities in oceanfront hotels. Longtime Myrtle Beach resident Sharon Penny said she couldn’t stand to see the hotel go and hoped to get a brick from the rubble as a souvenir.