MYRTLE BEACH -- City leaders will get another week to decide the future of Pelicans Ballpark, and they are trying to secure millions in additional funding so they can keep the team in Myrtle Beach.
Major League Baseball had wanted a firm commitment to upgrading the stadium by the end of May, but MLB has been flexible with that deadline as the city tries to finalize a 30-year lease with the team, city officials said. City council had planned to take a final vote on accepting sole ownership of the ballpark and approving the team's lease on June 3, but they have now pushed that back to June 10.
"It's just another week to see if we can get something worked out," said Myrtle Beach City Councilman Gregg Smith, who has compared potentially losing the minor league baseball team to the Myrtle Beach Pavilion and Amusement Park closing in 2006. "It would be a huge loss for the area and people would be talking about it for years, that we let the Pelicans leave."
Earlier this week, city council members told team officials the city would need to find a way to make up for the funding it would lose if Horry County conveyed its share of the ballpark to the city.
Since the stadium was built in 1998, it has been jointly owned by the city and county. The city holds 70 percent of the park and the county controls 30 percent. But county officials have grown frustrated with the cost of maintaining the stadium, insisting they need to get more for that investment.
The team's original lease expired in 2018 and the team, city and county have negotiated a series of extensions. The current lease expires at the end of this season.
The reason the parties are pressed for time now is because MLB has mandated that an estimated $20 million in improvements be made to the park. That doesn't include about $15.5 million in other maintenance and repairs.
City and county officials had discussed approving a new lease that would keep the stadium ownership structure intact, but in early May county leaders insisted on additional concessions from the city, including restoring funding for Myrtle Beach International Airport and creating an entertainment district to generate money for the ballpark.
City officials rejected the county's terms, saying those issues couldn't be resolved quickly and shouldn't be tethered to a new lease. County leaders then announced they wanted to convey their 30 percent share of the stadium to the city. If the city would take it, the county offered to pay the city $6 million.
On May 30, City Manager Fox Simons sent a letter to Horry County Administrator Barry Spivey asking the county to increase its offer from $6 million to $10.5 million, according to a copy obtained by The Post and Courier.
The higher amount, Simons wrote, would cover the county's share of the MLB-required upgrades ($6 million) and its portion of other needed improvements ($4.5 million). Simons also asked that the county not make its offer contingent upon airport funding and an entertainment district.
"As we have previously discussed with the County, the City is fully committed to having further discussions on these mutually beneficial matters but tying them together with the Pelicans is not appropriate," the city manager wrote.
County officials expect to discuss the city's request at their June 3 meeting, though it's unclear whether they will increase their offer.
"We want the pelicans to stay and we're working with the city to help make that happen," Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner said via text.
Horry County Councilman Dennis DiSabato, who represents Carolina Forest, also said the county is willing to consider the city's request.
"Everything's a negotiation," DiSabato said. "We said 6 (million) meaning 6 but we intended for them to at some point come back and say they wanted something more than 6."
He said most people he's spoken to about the situation understand the county's position and that county officials proposed ways to generate funding for the ballpark.
"They appreciate the fact that we don't want to just throw money away, throw tax dollars away," he said.
Even if the county agrees to increase its offer, that doesn't guarantee the team will stay.
The county still plans to get out of stadium ownership, leaving the city responsible for future ballpark maintenance. It's unclear whether the city council will support taking on that expense.
City officials have expressed concerns about the financial impact of that move, though some view the stadium like a library, recreation center or museum -- a facility that doesn't turn a profit but benefits the community.
"You might not know how much you're going to miss it until it's gone," Smith said.