CINCINNATI — A Senate bill making its way through committee right now has intentionally left extra funding for MEMI's Riverbend 2.0 project out, in part because people reached out to legislators expressing opposition to it, according to a senior aide in Senator Steve Wilson's office.
Wilson, a Maineville Republican, represents the Senate's 7th district, which encompasses mostly Warren County but also dips into Hamilton County to the south.
"As a fiscal conservative, Senator Wilson prioritized funding requests for only a handful of projects within the 7th District, such as the Cincinnati Open tennis facility in Mason," wrote Nick Butcher, senior legislative aide for Wilson's office, in an email.
The House of Representatives passed HB-2 on February 7.
In it, they allocated $8 million for the Riverbend project, which seeks to expand facilities into what was Coney Island. Now, SB-288 is making its way through the Senate and in it, the Senate chose not to add any additional funds to the Riverbend project, keeping the amount allotted at $8 million.
Why? Butcher said because constituents expressed they weren't in favor of it.
"Our office received more opposition phone calls and emails from constituents regarding the Riverbend 2.0 project than any other project or piece of legislation," Butcher wrote in an email to WCPO. "Therefore, the Senator chose not to prioritize this particular funding request."
By comparison, the Cincinnati Open in Mason was given $13,750,000 in HB-2 and the Senate's bill is poised to match that amount, bringing the amount of funding from the state up to $27,500,000.
The site of former Coney Island, however, is in Hamilton County — though it's still located within Wilson's district.
According to SB-288 as it's currently drafted while in the Senate finance committee, there are three Hamilton County projects that received more funding than the Riverbend 2.0 development:
The opposition from constituents Wilson's office heard about the Riverbend 2.0 project is likely tied to where the space is intended to be built: in place of Coney Island and its famous Sunlite Pool.
The park announced in 2023 that, effective at the end of last year, it would be permanently closing. The park was acquired by Music & Event Management Inc. (MEMI), which is a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO).
MEMI announced its plans for the space will be to instead build a "first-of-its-kind" music venue that will boast "cutting-edge performance and entertainment technology" alongside "best-in-class amenities."
Sunlite Pool does have a storied history, including serving as inspiration for many over the years — including Walt Disney himself. In 1925, Sunlite Pool opened and had since remained the world's largest recirculating pool.
Civil rights pioneer Marian Spencer, who died at the age of 99 in 2019, also fought to integrate the Sunlite Pool in the 1950s. Her challenge to Coney Island began after her sons, Donald Jr. and Edward Alexander, heard an advertisement inviting local children to visit.
Now, that pool is little more than a pile of rubble and dirt, after demolition activity kicked off at the end of March.
Fans of Coney Island and Sunlite Pool fought for months to find a way to save them, including offering to spend around $150,000 raised in donations to purchase the land containing the pool.
A grassroots group calling itself Save Coney Islanders fundraised for the money to make the offer, which MEMI and CSO refused. The group also worked to circulate petitions and organize rallies to try to preserve the history contained within Coney Island's property.
