In 1997, the city heard a presentation of a plan to attract people downtown by making 11th Avenue North "a wide, landscaped boulevard ending in a city park at the beach". In a project that started in July 2001, 10th Avenue North was widened west of downtown Myrtle Beach, with a new connector to 11th Avenue North near Kings Highway. Also in 2001, 11th Avenue North was to be upgraded at a cost of $1.5 million with "wider, brick-paved sidewalks, street surfaces lined with pavers, street lights, underground utilities, trees and flower beds". At the Ocean Boulevard end, a park was planned. Toward the end of 2001, options for the road's new name were considered. If it was called 10th Avenue North for its entire length, streets from 11th Avenue North to 52nd Avenue North would have to be renamed, causing thousands of addresses to be changed. One idea was Mr. Joe White Avenue. The Myrtle Beach city planning commission approved that name in January 2002, but the city council objected after complaints from business owners. So did Horry County Council, which was responsible for a section of the road west of the Myrtle Beach city limits. City planning commissioners revisited the idea of keeping the old name for the upgraded sections of 10th and 11th Avenues. One plan called for naming the road 10th Avenue west of a particular location and 11th Avenue east of it. Another suggested renaming only the new section of the road. But once again, the decision to rename the entire road stood. The section of 10th Avenue North from Dunbar Street to Broadway kept its name, and the short section between Broadway and Kings Highway closed inMarch 2002. The road opened April 7, 2002 with the intersection of Broadway and Kings Highway closing. The park at Ocean Boulevard and Mr. Joe White Avenue was dedicated to the Justin Plyler, co-founder of Gay Dolphin Gift Cove, at the Sun Fun Festival on June 3, 2005. With the opening of the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk in 2010, Plyler Park became the location of a concert series called "Hot Summer Nights".
Mr. Joe
Julius W. "Joe" White Sr. was born in 1910 in Georgetown County, South Carolina. At age 7 he started his shoe shining career, charging 10 cents a pair, and once shined 290 pairs in one day and proudly referred to himself as a "Shoe Stylist." In 1949 he moved to Myrtle Beach, where he worked in Woody's Barber Shop for 27 years, as well as at the Ocean Forest Hotel and also had a window washing business that was a going concern. White was also a leader in Shield's Chapel Fire Baptized Holiness Church. He was married to his wife Louise for 66 years. White died December 23, 1997 at age 87 and was highly regarded by Myrtle Beach residents of all races and backgrounds.
