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Coney Island/Sunlite Pool Demolition


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9 hours ago, Taylor.B03 said:

One last fill for ole times sake!

"Come one! Come all! Have one final swim in Sunlite Pool the way it was intended! Flooded to the brim with natural Ohio River water!" ***Conditions apply

In all seriousness it is absolutely crazy how high the river is right now. And with more rain coming I'm beginning to think I will need a row boat to commute soon.

And if I had to choose what happened to the land that will formerly be Coney Island and future become a new concert venue, I'd have picked for it to become a nature preserve. Let nature take it back. Make some beautiful walking paths. Moonlite Gardens could stay and remain a venue for special occasions such as weddings. Just let her spirit rest. That would be my personal wish vs anything else. 

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A great opinion piece: 
 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/contributors/2024/04/14/coney-islands-sunlite-pool-demolition-cincinnati-symphony-orchestra-class/73271962007/?fbclid=IwAR14ONjky_yoknoyKAUs__IxqaLPCg44t9NmcdqRnvKGZuoXBeEAPrznOTw_aem_ASf472FWj4io0gXwb-idu6O704g3eZNrqcZqafEJu19Rc0TY5Gj3qIPBL3sX2YB24R0

 

Quote

“Watching the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Music and Event Management Inc.'s handling of Coney Island’s purchase and subsequent demolition these past four months sure does remind me of the age-old playbook that shows up in every struggle between the haves and have-nots, whether racial, gender, class, or any of the myriad other power imbalances. It goes like this: The people who have the money and power are laser-focused on what’s good for them. They ignore the calls of the community to work to find common solutions. They bulldoze their way over the many and then find a way to blame the people they’ve just railroaded. They insist that what they are doing is legal, and refuse to admit that maybe, just maybe, it’s not right. “

 

 

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I just REALLY hope they don't wreck the old lighthouse entrance down by the former riverboat dock. It's completely out of the way of feasible development due to lower elevation there right by the river, knocking it down would just be a deliberate "because we can" action.

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They don’t have any reason to tear anything down, but they still are. So, they can save their heroic comments about doing what they can and can’t save or about whatever buildings they pretend to care about. Their actions are completely transparent and they’re not trusted by the public. Nor should they be. There are plenty of people/groups dedicated to save whatever aspects of the park history that can still be saved.
 

This is completely on CSO. 

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Pardon the double post. 
 

The flood waters are no more and demo continues. Luckily, the historic Silver Bullet slide has been purchased and removed from CSO’s carnage. Per Facebook and the buyer, there are no immediate plans for the slide, but the hope is to have it operational in the future. Photos from the buyer on Facebook: 

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8325A912-51B9-4912-8BDA-6504EFB3D88B.jpeg

 

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58 minutes ago, beastfan11 said:

Pardon the double post. 
 

The flood waters are no more and demo continues. Luckily, the historic Silver Bullet slide has been purchased and removed from CSO’s carnage. Per Facebook and the buyer, there are no immediate plans for the slide, but the hope is to have it operational in the future. Photos from the buyer on Facebook: 

61EAF3B6-0345-470D-807A-9B9A2E8CCBC2.jpeg

2E6DBC27-CF76-4927-A377-A7CBBED0E868.jpeg

523A771A-38A2-435C-99A5-0B44C760204E.jpeg

419ECCA4-ACA7-478B-B68E-ED4DAFBC7FC1.jpeg

3D787F16-695F-4956-9D66-583FEBB74D12.jpeg

815D6B5B-0491-4C1F-96DD-0A7D3B62FD4C.jpeg

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I'm glad that was spared, that structure was very Iconic so It'll be cool to see where it ends up! 

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As awful as this may sound, I hope torrential flooding happens year round down at the river and absolutely destroys this new music venue. What a joke for them to absolutely demolish everything, looking at the picture of the slide makes me sad about what once was.

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I was reviewing the CSO website today about the new music venue and it appears that they are in discussions about restoring and reopening moonlight gardens. They are suggesting it would be a $5.7million dollar project. 

 

I really hope they go through with it. $5.7m is pocket change compared to the $118m they are spending on the new venue. 

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On 4/4/2024 at 4:34 PM, disco2000 said:

Plus keep in mind how times have changed since the pool was originally built.

How many people had a pool in their backyard then?

Heck, how many people had a pool in their backyard 50 years ago or lived in a subdivision with a pool?

You're thinking along the right lines about the world being changed, but I don't think that is exactly right. How many people in Cincinnati had air conditioning in the 1920s? The answer is not a one. Neighborhood public pools were a draw and almost a necessity in those days.

I think pool ownership actually peaked in the 60s and 70s rather than today, at least for in-ground pools. There was a stronger and more stable middle class then and people seemed to invest more of their leisure dollars on expensive things for close to home like pools and new cars rather than for elaborate vacations. Anecdotally there seem to be a lot Baby Boomers & Gen/Xer's who grew up with pools than in subsequent generations. They went to their grandparents, or an aquatic center/ water park/ splash park.

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3 hours ago, KI Guy said:

You're thinking along the right lines about the world being changed, but I don't think that is exactly right. How many people in Cincinnati had air conditioning in the 1920s? The answer is not a one. Neighborhood public pools were a draw and almost a necessity in those days.

I think pool ownership actually peaked in the 60s and 70s rather than today, at least for in-ground pools. There was a stronger and more stable middle class then and people seemed to invest more of their leisure dollars on expensive things for close to home like pools and new cars rather than for elaborate vacations. Anecdotally there seem to be a lot Baby Boomers & Gen/Xer's who grew up with pools than in subsequent generations. They went to their grandparents, or an aquatic center/ water park/ splash park.

Definitely a valid point about air conditioning!

And to further make your point, that is probably why so many homebuilders put in a subdivision community pool as part of the HOA to pull on those generations that were used to having pools in their backyard, but may not necessarily want to have one of their own!

But some still do.  My friend lives in a subdivision with a HOA pool, and within a 2,000 foot radius of that pool, 8 homes in that subdivision also have built-in pools!

 

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The new portion of the bike trail extends east past Coney, Belterra Park (former River Downs) to Grove Park Grill, as I biked it today. All the buildings surrounding Sunlite are demolished except the East Entrance. All the slides are down, the Water Park Typhoon Tower is dismantled and they were tearing down the The Twister's four water slides. Ironically, the new dive pool has a fence around it. I wondered what happened to the sign about growing old mounted on the east wall went. In addition, they are cutting down numerous trees around the perimeter of the park. My brother who is an arborists, said many of those trees were hundreds of years old. So very sad :( In addition, they put construction screen around the chain link fence, but you can see everything traveling east to west.

pilotank

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Not to be pessimistic but I don’t see moonlight gardens staying. The 5.7 million feels low and I think it’s done on purpose

 

they announce it will cost 5.7 then down the road they say ope our bad it will be 10-12 million and it’s just too much while demo is only 1 mil (or something like this )

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1 hour ago, shark6495 said:

Not to be pessimistic but I don’t see moonlight gardens staying. The 5.7 million feels low and I think it’s done on purpose

they announce it will cost 5.7 then down the road they say ope our bad it will be 10-12 million and it’s just too much while demo is only 1 mil (or something like this )

If that’s the case, then why not just demo it now and be done with it?

I bet they’re at least going to look into it. Unlike the pool, Moonlite Gardens might be something they could actually use and let’s remember—the CSO/MEMI aren’t the ones who let it get into this condition in the first place. 

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It would be nice if new owners lake Would stay open to the public with paddle boats and a Grand indoor year round Coaster added for a legacy to Coney n have it themed like a shooting star horse, etc. 

Plus near Moonlight if it can be rehabbed a permanent museum with Walt Disney's check etc. 

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I was sad to see Summerfair has some relationship going on with MEMI....my guess the event was offered parts of the venue to save face and understand basically a volunteer organization running it, but please move back to the Eden Park or elsewhere. Let me guess...MEMI gets the parking and a hefty sum to facilitate it this year out of the kindness of their hearts...LMFAO. 

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If the public donates 5.7 mil by all means they will restore moonlight gardens but if the already financially hurting general public doesn't find it in their checkbooks to pay for the renovations the CSO will say it's too expensive and that'll be the end of it....while they secretly sit on 100mil in the bank!

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On 4/26/2024 at 1:09 AM, Taylor.B03 said:

image.png

Just remember the juxtaposition, MEMI isn't exactly *poor* by ANY stretch of the imagination, they can easily afford it. Don't be fooled by their jargon. Even if the price doubled, they could still afford to restore it. 

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On 4/23/2024 at 9:53 AM, beastfan11 said:

Pardon the double post. 
 

The flood waters are no more and demo continues. Luckily, the historic Silver Bullet slide has been purchased and removed from CSO’s carnage. Per Facebook and the buyer, there are no immediate plans for the slide, but the hope is to have it operational in the future. Photos from the buyer on Facebook: 

61EAF3B6-0345-470D-807A-9B9A2E8CCBC2.jpeg

2E6DBC27-CF76-4927-A377-A7CBBED0E868.jpeg

523A771A-38A2-435C-99A5-0B44C760204E.jpeg

419ECCA4-ACA7-478B-B68E-ED4DAFBC7FC1.jpeg

3D787F16-695F-4956-9D66-583FEBB74D12.jpeg

815D6B5B-0491-4C1F-96DD-0A7D3B62FD4C.jpeg

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Questions arise to me how long this was premeditated and obviously some of the water attractions packed for shipping....the fountain in front of the Admin building and the Wach plaque...interesting. 

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2 minutes ago, burlguy41005 said:

Questions arise to me how long this was premeditated and obviously some of the water attractions packed for shipping....the fountain in front of the Admin building and the Wach plaque...interesting. 

It was premeditated enough for them to start demo immediately (relatively speaking). Anyone who says this was an impulsive, sudden sale is a liar. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/2/2024 at 8:01 PM, beastfan11 said:

It was premeditated enough for them to start demo immediately (relatively speaking). Anyone who says this was an impulsive, sudden sale is a liar. 

Interesting the slide went to that private collector.....wish I had noticed the advertisement. Wonder if the neon exit sign on the light pole in the parking lot will make it to the sign museum....only can hope.

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  • 1 month later...
1 hour ago, beastfan11 said:

Glad they didn’t get the funding. Because they don’t deserve it. But this makes me worry about the fate of the remains of the park such as Moonlite Gardens, etc. 

From Skyview12: 

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Unfortunately, you know full well they will say saving Moonlite and any other Coney remains was dependent on that money....they will spin it that the elected officials simply didn't care about saving history or something like that....

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Except we all know it's not on them to save it.

Just as they weren't the ones who let it fall into disrepair.

And no matter what anyone may say about public funding going to projects—derailing funding for a local project is such a great example of cutting off one's nose to spite their face.

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