The next meeting of the Save Coney Islanders is this Wednesday, January 31st, 7:30pm at Salem Gardens (6396 Salem Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45230). This is the second meeting of the group headed up by Dr. Chuck Kelly. This is his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554975822469 There is a lot of activity going on in this group and anyone in Cincy who wants to get involved in the grassroots cause to save Coney Island should attend. The group is working on websites , letters etc.

Here are some suggestions to everyone for letter writing:

CSO/MEMI: attn: 

CSO CEO & President, Jonathan Martin, jmartin@cincinnatisymphony.org, executive@cincinnatisymphony.org

Dianne Rosenberg, Chairperson of the CSO Board of Directors, drosenberg@cincinnatisymphony.org

CSO address - 1241 Elm St.,Cincinnati OH 45202

Michael Smith, CEO - either msmith@memi.biz or msmith@cincinnatisymphony.org - it was hard to find his email but it should be under the same format.

MEMI address - 409 Broadway St, Cincinnati, OH 45202

You can send, additionally to Coney Island: info@coneyislandpark.com, but I recommend starting with MEMI. 

Here's the email: 

Dear CSO/MEMI,

I am writing to express how deeply troubled I am by the last-minute plans to destroy Coney Island, our Cincinnati landmark representing a 138 year history, and our one and only place in Cincinnati where people of all ages and colors come together to create inclusivity regardless of politics or perceptions, or any of the things that so sadly divide us in this country these days. Cincinnati, and especially Coney, has always stood for the midwestern values of neighborly connection, community, and the old-time values of kindness, communication, human solidarity, and forward- and inclusive-moving growth. Coney is vacation, recharging, cooling down, meeting up with friends and family, and standing proof that Cincinnati has not abandoned its ethics of caring for its communities and our quality of life! Coney has particularly been the one place where people congregate peacefully and joyously – whether it’s to find a place to teach our children to swim (drastically reducing accidental drownings in other places as well), or a place to give young people a chance to learn to do their jobs with dedication, compassion, and focus (lifeguards, food service), or the place where the old, young, middle-aged, black, brown, white come to play together, coexist in peacefulness, joy and relaxation during the hottest and most unforgiving weather of our Cincinnati summers. And Moonlight Gardens is the place where amazing music is played, and people meet and dance and lift their spirits – which in a time of this much discord is particularly important! Moonlight is where people have married, where memories have been made. To summarily pour concrete on the life-giving properties of such a place of community and life is unthinkable! This is not just a pool. Not just water. It is a society! It is a 138-year-old representation of what Cincinnati IS: connected, midwestern-heartful, welcoming. People come from big distances to experience Coney, its ambiance, its music, its people, its recirculating pool! I feel certain that the property can be shared! There is more than enough land to have a new music venue and to keep Coney, both! I – and tens of thousands of others – want to meet, to speak, and will not simply give in, in silence, to the needs of one group, no matter how important or powerful that group may be. We are Cincinnati, and we are standing up for Coney Island. I am standing up for Coney Island as an irreplaceable heartbeat of Cincinnati. Do not destroy it.

Thank you.