Coney Island, Cincinnati, Ohio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses of "Coney Island", see Coney Island (disambiguation).

Moonlite Gardens at Coney Island

Coney Island is an amusement park in the California neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio and Anderson Township Hamilton County, on the banks of the Ohio River east of Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. It is located in "Cincinnati's Playland".

1 History
2 Events
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Coney Island started in the 1870s as an apple orchard farm owned by James Parker, who realized that his location along the Ohio River was a profitable location to attract people looking to visit. The orchard was sold to Ohio Grove Corporation and was officially renamed "Grove Park, The Coney Island of the West," and opened June 21, 1886. In 1887, the Grove Park name was dropped and the park renamed to "Coney Island."

Over the years, the park became a full-fledged amusement park, complete with rides and carnival games. In that capacity, Coney Island was a Cincinnati institution. However, the park's proximity to the river made it prone to frequent flooding. In 1968, park management entered into talks with Taft Broadcasting for the purpose of developing a new park on higher ground. Taft responded by buying Coney Island outright in 1969, and as a division of Taft Broadcasting, Coney Island began construction on the new park, 25 miles North of Cincinnati on Interstate 71. The park closed its amusements on September 6, 1971. Almost all of the rides were moved to the new Kings Island theme park in nearby Mason, Ohio. However, the Sunlite Pool — the largest recirculating swimming pool in the world — remained open, and remains a recreation center and meeting place for local youth.

When Kings Island was purchased by Paramount Communications (which later became part of Viacom) in 1992 (as part of the then-new Paramount Parks group), the ownership of Coney Island and Kings Island was finally separated. No longer held back by its corporate parents (Coney Island is still owned by a successor to the Taft Broadcasting Company) so as not to compete with Kings Island, Coney Island has resurrected itself as a traditional amusement park, with familiar rides such as the "Tilt-A-Whirl" and bumper cars, as well as carnival games and musical shows. Over a period of time, the park's management is rebuilding the property into its heyday image.^[1]

[edit] Events

Coney Island serves as the location for several festivals, including Summerfair Arts Festival, the "Cincinnati Celtic World Festival" and the Cincinnati Flower and Farm Fest. Concerts are also held in the Moonlite Gardens area of the park, most notably by Over the Rhine.