Coney Island Closing After 137 Years

Coney Island will be no more in 2024. Officials announced Thursday that the attraction will permanently close at the end of 2023. The Ohio amusement park, which has been around for 137 years, will cease operations on Dec. 31 following the conclusion of Coney Island's Nights of Lights holiday event. Sunlite Pool will also close down at this time.

"We have been proud to provide a place where so many wonderful memories were created for families," the park said in a statement, per WLWT 5. "We thank the millions of patrons and employees from Cincinnati and surrounding neighborhoods. You made this a special place for all of us. But the time has come for this historic destination to offer new and different options for entertainment-seekers looking for fun and unique experiences."

BREAKING: Coney Island is closing. https://t.co/WtXp6TxAPc

— FOX19 NOW (@FOX19) December 14, 2023

Coney Island — not to be confused with the Coney Island area of New York — has been around since 1886, with Sunlite Pool, the world's largest recirculating pool, according to the amusement park's website, being added in 1925. After announcing in 2019 plans to remove all rides, the park continued to operate as an "enhanced water park experience." The park has been a staple attraction for generations, Dennis Speigel, who began as ticket taker at the front gate in 1959, telling WCPO 9, "kind of a sad moment for me to see it go, but I understand why... I have watched the Coney Island project shrink and diminish over the last few years. We saw the rides go away."

In the Thursday announcement, park officials said Coney Island is being sold to Music & Event Management Inc. (MEMI), a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), which plans to transform the site into a $118 million music venue and "one-of-a-kind entertainment campus." The venue will have "cutting-edge performance and entertainment technology" alongside "best-in-class amenities," as well as an advanced sound system and an adaptable seating arrangement. The target opening date for the venue is 2026.

"We are building a new home for live music events that will offer a mesmerizing fusion of cutting-edge technology and architectural significance," Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra President Jonathan Martin said. "This new development will usher in the future of the music industry, and we are proud to be leading the next step in the same way Riverbend changed the face of live music in our community 40 years ago when it opened."

A message from Coney Island greeting patrons on its website now reads, "Thank you, loyal patrons, for your support over the years." According to the statement, Sunlite Pool season passes purchased for the 2024 season will be refunded.