The MEMI interview on WVXU earlier this week was insane.  This whole thing has been a hose-job from the beginning and the local media has rolled over for these people.   

 

It's like, The Enquirer had the temerity to poke fun at Coney Island for not making much money, when the whole point of the original Riverbend and now Riverbend 2.0 was to subsidize...the symphony.  The symphony guy asserted that "the community wants a first-rate symphony".  99% of people don't give a flip about the symphony. 

 

It's like, anyone who says "change is hard..." is always a corporate stooge. 

As much as I criticize MEMI, I do think it's great that we have an organization that's making money from rock/pop concert tours and using that revenue to fund the Symphony. Without that, we would be unlikely to have as great of a symphony as we do, and who knows whether projects like the Music Hall renovation would have happened.

i saw a preservation website -- 👍

 

 

Coney Island’s Moonlite Gardens & Sunlite Pool Under Threat

 

https://cincinnatipreservation.org/coney-islands-moonlite-gardens-sunlite-pool-under-threat/

Sunlite Pool isn't something worth preserving IMO. The signage at the entrance, some of the picnic spaces (even if relocated), and the moonlite gardens are worthwhile preservation goals. They don't take up a ton of space, they keep the history of the space, they are easy to maintain, and they can be well-utilized if MEMI actually wants to utilize them. No one would've ever reopened the Sunlite Pool and gotten any money out of doing so.

4 hours ago, Lazarus said:

The MEMI interview on WVXU earlier this week was insane.  This whole thing has been a hose-job from the beginning and the local media has rolled over for these people.   

 

I’ll be the first person to point out the failings of MEMI and local (especially tv) news, but this statement above is just simply not true. There’s no “hose job” to be found, no conspiracies afoot in back rooms (to be clear, I get why you would say that, but it’s not the case here).

The simple fact is that Coney Island—the historical park of yester-year—died in 1971. The remaining pool was all that was left and it was “saved” simply by an economic stroke of luck (TAFT did not have enough money in the KI project to build a replacement, or a water park, up in Kings Mills). The few other remaining historical structures seem to be things that MEMI has an interest in preserving. If they can, great, but let’s be real: for 53 years, Coney Island had new leadership (not the original management) that could’ve developed the park into something more sustainable, etc. It has been clear that since at least  2019 that they had no interest in doing so.

This region is building a ton of music venues all of the sudden. Do we need that many? I don’t know, or care, because if MEMI wants to spend their money to do so—they’re welcome to it. At the end of the day: Sunlite Pool was not a publicly owned asset necessitating the public’s intervention. We’re not talking about the shuttering of public pools in underserved neighborhoods. We’re not talking about displacing residents for a soccer stadium, new arena, etc. and we’re not talking about demolishing historic architecture or the core of a neighborhood for a parking lot. 

 

I’ll borrow your line here: 99% of people may not care about the Symphony. I personally don’t, not my jam, but by the same logic: 99% of people didn’t care about Coney Island’s last remaining historic attraction: Sunlite Pool. Which, to be clear: was not some historical structure deserving of being on anyone’s register of historical places, etc. It was an East Side, privately owned Swim Club poorly maintained by an ownership who wanted to make money. 

 

In the end, the main point remains: Coney Island died in 1971 and no amount of Facebook and online petition handwringing will bring it back. 

And, uh, on that note...

 

'Can’t buy something that’s not for sale': Anderson Township leaders react to Coney Island criticism

 

After 75 minutes of public comment blasting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s decision to demolish Sunlite Pool – and Anderson Township leaders for not stopping it – officials defended themselves and explained there was nothing they could do about the private business transaction.

 

The township's board of trustees meeting occurred hours after the demolition began Thursday, March 21.

 

Resident Coleen Vogelgesang said she's concerned about additional noise and traffic from a planned, $118 million new venue, calling it a “time bomb.”

 

“I find it hard to believe the Anderson Township trustees did not know the land at Coney Island … was up for sale as the trustees claimed previously,” Vogelgesang said. “Shame on Anderson Township trustees – all of you … for not protecting our community and a place we all called our summer vacation.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/03/22/sunlite-pool-demolition-anderson-township-reaction.html

 

No news in a year. 

Today I saw a surveyor's tripod set up on the site of Sunlite Pool:

 

The only thing left from the pool is this light tower:

 

Also, no drones:

 

 

 

On 3/15/2024 at 10:52 AM, ucgrady said:

I'm glad that they are not going to demolish Moonlight Gardens, at least not yet,

 

It's all still there, but looking run-down:

 

 

Farmer Family Foundation kicks in $60M for Riverbend 2.0, reveals opening year

A new 20,000-capacity concert venue planned at the former Coney Island amusement park will be called the Farmer Music Center after the Farmer Family Foundation donated $60 million for the project, allowing the $160 million effort to open by the 2027 outdoor music season.

Music and Event Management Inc., which will own the center and is a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, has an undisclosed additional sum to raise, but both organizations are confident in the opening schedule.

The gift by the family foundation launched by Dick Farmer, founder of Cintas, is the largest in recent memory for a Cincinnati arts organization.

“We are deeply grateful to the entire Farmer family, represented by the Farmer Family Foundation, for their vision, support and belief in the life-changing power of music,” said CSO CEO Robert McGrath. “We fully expect that this gift represents a huge vote of community support and will inspire others to join us in contributing to the project and achieving this vision.”

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/05/29/farmer-foundation-new-riverbend-coney-island-open.html

Does anyone know where it will be located on the site?

MEMI Announces Name of New State-of-the-Art Music Venue in Anderson Township

"MEMI, a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) that manages live entertainment venues, including Riverbend Music Center and the Andrew J Brady Music Center, announced Thursday that its new state-of-the-art music and entertainment venue being built on the site of the former Coney Island will be called the Farmer Music Center after a $60 million gift from the Farmer Family Foundation. The organization says it's the largest philanthropic commitment to the arts in recent Cincinnati history."

Read more:

https://www.citybeat.com/music/memi-announces-official-name-for-new-state-of-the-art-music-venue-19638796

From what I have heard, the venue will not be where the pool was. It will be built where the west parking lot is, right behind Moonlite Gardens. (In between Coney Island and I-275.)