Conway Moves Forward on 808-Acre Waterfront Transformation With Inland Beach, Marina and Riverwalk Extension

CONWAY, S.C. — JULY 7, 2026  |  THOMAS BEACH VACATIONS

The former Grainger Generating Station site — once home to 300-foot smokestacks and coal ash ponds — is becoming a public waterfront with a freshwater beach, a 100-slip marina, a 3.5-mile boardwalk and a mixed-use village, backed by an $80 million financing plan approved in December 2025.

The City of Conway is advancing engineering on what officials are calling a once-in-a-generation transformation of the former Santee Cooper Grainger Generating Station site, an 808-acre property straddling Highway 501 that the state-owned utility donated to the city in April 2025. The project calls for an inland freshwater beach, a 100-slip marina connected to the Waccamaw River, a 3.5-mile extension of the Conway Riverwalk, an amphitheater, and a mixed-use village of shops, restaurants, a hotel and waterfront residences — all built on land that generated electricity for the Grand Strand for half a century before the coal-fired plant closed in 2012.

City Administrator Adam Emrick has estimated 18 to 24 months of engineering work followed by two to three years of phased construction. One canal on the property has already been restored and reopened for public boating and fishing as of July 2025, marking the first tangible step in the transformation. Conway City Council approved an $80 million Tax Increment Financing plan for the project in December 2025, and the city carries no municipal debt.

The property transfer followed years of negotiations and environmental remediation. The Grainger plant’s twin 300-foot smokestacks were demolished in 2016, four years after the plant ceased operations. Santee Cooper then spent years removing more than a million tons of coal ash from two ponds on the site, digging an additional foot of soil beneath the pits, and restoring much of the land to wetlands. The Santee Cooper board voted to transfer the property to Conway in December 2023, the South Carolina Joint Bond Review Committee approved the deal in March 2024, and the formal transfer was completed in April 2025.

Conway held a public celebration on July 23, 2025, where city officials and Santee Cooper leaders gathered on the land for the first time since the transfer. Santee Cooper CEO Jimmy Staton addressed safety concerns directly, stating that the utility went through extensive remediation and that the site is safe for the recreational purposes the city has planned. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has certified the former Ash Pond No. 1 — the site of the planned inland beach — as safe for public use. Santee Cooper will continue to monitor groundwater at the site.

What the Project Includes

Of the 808 acres, approximately 533 acres encompassing Lake Busbee — the plant’s former 330-acre cooling pond and surrounding wetlands — have been rezoned to the city’s Conservation Preservation district and will remain in their restored natural state. Only 12 to 15 acres are designated for private commercial development through public-private partnerships. The remainder becomes public recreational space.

The inland beach is planned as a freshwater swimming, kayaking and paddleboarding area on the former Ash Pond No. 1, designed to offer water recreation without motorized boat traffic. The new marina, with approximately 100 slips, would connect to the Waccamaw River and address the persistent waitlist at Conway’s existing downtown marina. An amphitheater for concerts and community events is planned near the intersection of Elm Street and Marina Drive. The 3.5-mile Riverwalk extension would thread through wetlands and connect the new amenities to the existing downtown Riverwalk along the Waccamaw, creating one of the longest continuous waterfront trail systems in the South Carolina lowcountry.

Draft plans for the mixed-use village show a hotel, shops, restaurants and waterfront condominiums. Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy has said the area could see restaurants, shops, boat docks and possibly a downtown hotel or two, all developed through public-private partnerships once the public infrastructure is in place.

How It Is Being Funded

The land itself was a gift from Santee Cooper. Initial phases will be funded through hospitality fee revenue. For the larger build-out, Conway City Council in December 2025 approved a Tax Increment Financing district covering the downtown and Lake Busbee area, a tool that uses property tax revenue generated by new development to fund the infrastructure that enables it. City officials project the TIF could generate as much as $170.5 million over the coming decades against the $80 million public investment. The TIF model is the same financing mechanism used to develop Market Common in Myrtle Beach, another former industrial/military site successfully converted to community use.

A Day Trip Already Worth the Drive

Conway, the Horry County seat, sits roughly 20 miles west of the coast and is already one of the most popular day trips for Grand Strand vacationers. The existing Conway Riverwalk runs along the Waccamaw River through a downtown of locally owned shops, restaurants and the Horry County Museum. The city recently completed a $2.3 million Riverwalk expansion connecting the riverfront to Main Street, adding floating docks and viewing decks.

From North Myrtle Beach, Conway is a 25- to 40-minute drive depending on which beach section you start from. Guests staying in Windy Hill or Crescent Beach have the shortest route, while those in Ocean Drive or Cherry Grove Beach should budget a few extra minutes. Mayor Blain-Bellamy has said Conway wants to re-establish itself as the gateway to the Grand Strand, and with 808 acres of new waterfront in the pipeline, the gateway is about to look dramatically different.

For families staying in oceanfront homes or oceanfront condos along the North Myrtle Beach strand, the waterfront project adds another reason to build a day around the drive inland. The Riverwalk, the marina, the downtown shops and the kayaking on the Waccamaw are already there. The beach, the amphitheater and the extended boardwalk are coming.

Sources: WBTW News13, “Conway celebrates historic transfer of Lake Busbee property into city limits” (July 24, 2025); WMBF News, “‘Once-in-a-generation opportunity’: Santee Cooper transfers 800 acres to city of Conway for redevelopment” (July 23, 2025); WPDE ABC15, “Conway’s plan to transform old coal plant into vibrant waterfront” (July 24, 2025); MyHorryNews, “Conway leaders look to rezone former ash pond, Lake Busbee site” (July 22, 2025); WBTW News13, “Conway leaders advance financing plan for $80M downtown revitalization project” (December 2, 2025); The Post and Courier Myrtle Beach, “Power plant to marina? Santee Cooper looks to transfer 800-plus acres to Conway” (December 5, 2023); Santee Cooper press release (December 4, 2023); City of Conway official announcements. Project details and timelines are subject to change as engineering and permitting progress.