The students in Professor Taylor Damonte's resort tourism planning class at Coastal Carolina University have created development plans for a hypothetical 80-acre site in North Myrtle Beach. Six teams of students will present their proposals on Tuesday, April 29 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the boardroom of the Wall College of Business. The event is open to the public.

Although the plans the students produce are academic exercises, Damonte works with city planners and industry professionals to create a realistic development site case. This semester one of the assigned tracts of land is bound by the Intracoastal Waterway, U.S. Highway 17 and the new Main Street Connector. The case also includes a hypothetical six-acre oceanfront tract that students are required to include in their plan.

The students will address a range of factors including market demand, financial feasibility from the perspective of both the developer and city government, and quality of life issues. Design elements chosen by some of the students include an equestrian facility, tennis and sports facilities, boardwalks, a marina, a convention center, a theme park, shopping and lodging facilities.

For more information, contact Taylor Damonte, director of Coastal's Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism, at 349-2698.