CINCINNATI, Ohio — A fight is underway to save an Ohio landmark that has been a gathering place for people near and far since the 1800s.
Fans of Cincinnati’s Coney Island swimming pool and park are organizing a last-ditch effort to save the facility.
It was sold last week, and the new owners plan to turn it into a new music venue as soon as the famous Christmas Lights go dark for the season.
The sale and closing of Coney Island was a shock and disappointment for many fans, and they’ve wasted no time launching an effort to save it.
“I came out last weekend (to Coney) to hold up my sign that said ‘Honk to save Sunlight Pool,’ said Victoria Vogelsang, a fan of Coney for decades. “I had a lot of great interactions with people, a lot of people honking, stopping, smiling, sharing their stories. And so I thought it’s worth trying again.”
Vogelsang’s mother taught swimming lessons at the pool, and her cousin was a lifeguard. She said generations of her family have been frequent visitors for years, like family friend Sally Gaylord.
‘“As far as how I felt when I got the news, I felt like someone cut my heart out,” Gaylord said.
“No one understands how important this venue is until you’re here during the summer,” she said. “It’s not just about coming to Coney, it’s about the atmosphere, the environment, the history, the caring that you have in nurturing with friends, that you don’t see any other time during the year, but mostly because it teaches kids how to swim.”
Those are some of the reasons why the movement to save Coney is attracting people of all ages, for a park that first began in 1886, with Sunlight Pool opening in 1925.
“I’m 85, so I’ve been coming here 85 years, and I still come on Fridays with my own family,” said Marian Barton, another Coney fan who is joining the growing group of demonstrators. “My son got married here. I volunteer at Summer Fair.”
The arts festival is another reason people don’t want to see Coney changed to a music venue. An online petition through change.org had already secured more than 14,000 signatures by, Dec. 20.
Some of those who signed the petition are planning a large show of support outside Coney this weekend.
“I organized a protest for this Saturday at noon to help influence either keeping it as a historic landmark or for the new buyers to at least preserve the pool portion,” Vogelsang said.
But so far, there’s been no sign from the new owners that that’s a possibility. They want to build what they’re calling a state-of-the-art new music venue and believe Cincinnati needs that to stay competitive with concerts.
But demonstrators point to last summer’s Taylor Swift shows in Cincinnati as proof the city should keep its pool and doesn’t need any more music venues.
“We have major venues, music specific and otherwise, that I think we can continue to draw big names like Taylor Swift,” Vogelsang said.
So for now, fans of Coney Island will keep working to draw more people to support their efforts to keep the pool open.