How much for Sunlite Pool? Supporters say $146K, symphony says it's not for sale

A group hoping to save Coney Island's historic Sunlite Pool from demolition said it has calculated the value of the pool, raised money to buy it and asked the new owner to sell it.

But officials with that new owner, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and its events arm, reiterated this week the pool is not for sale and will be destroyed to make way for a new music venue.

The Sunlite Pool supporters, working as Save Coney Islanders, said they had landed more than 80 pledges through Tuesday to save the facility, reaching their fundraising goal in less than 48 hours.

That goal was $146,454 – what the group is offering the symphony for Sunlite Pool and the 2 acres it sits on. That is "the fair market value" of the land, considering the orchestra paid $8 million to buy the entire 100-plus-acre Coney Island site in December, the group said.

"It seems only reasonable that the CSO should consider this offer or make a counteroffer," the group said in a press release, which also suggested the symphony donate the pool to Anderson Township. "CSO, show your gratitude to the citizens of Cincinnati and sell Sunlite Pool ... so that we can preserve our community pool for future generations."

'Start the negotiations'

Save Coney Islanders put their purchase offer together over the weekend, launching it on their Facebook page on Monday morning.

They sent it to orchestra administrators and board members but have not received a reply, group organizer Victoria Vogelgesang said. "We just wanted to start the negotiations," she said.

The group also said Anderson Township officials are interested in buying the pool.

On Facebook, organizers said "the township" has told them: “We’ve made it clear to the CSO that we are interested in the property within Anderson Township, which obviously includes Sunlight (sic) Pool.”

Township Trustee Joshua Gerth included that language in a March 8 email he sent to a group member, which the group provided to The Enquirer.

This week, however, Anderson Township Administrator Vicky L. Earhart said the township's board of trustees "never expressed a desire to acquire Sunlite Pool through purchase or donation."

Gerth and fellow trustees did not respond to requests for comment.

The symphony has made clear it is not interested in selling the pool or other Coney property, Earhart said via email. As such, township trustees "sought only to discuss opportunities where the township could be involved should the CSO determine that not all its property in Anderson Township would be needed for its use."

Officials of the symphony and its event-booking subsidiary, Music and Event Management Inc., told The Enquirer the same in an interview earlier this month. Plans for an expanded music campus at Riverbend Music Center, on the eastern border of Coney, will require use of the Sunlite Pool property, they said.

“We are proceeding with the development of the property into a state-of-the-art music and entertainment campus,” spokesperson Rosemarie Moehring said in an emailed statement this week, responding to the Save Coney Islanders' campaign. “The property is not for sale.”

Symphony needs pool acres for new venue

Not all of Coney's acres are usable, symphony officials said earlier. That includes land on the banks of the Ohio River and Lake Como, at about 20 acres, at Coney's entrance. The symphony is aiming to retain the lake and entrance, and possibly Coney's Moonlite Gardens dance hall.

But the symphony cannot save the pool structure because "there's just not enough land to do what we need to do,” Mike Smith, president of Music and Event Management, said earlier.

Exactly what will go on the site of the pool – it could be parking or part of the new music venue – remains to be determined, Smith said.

Nonetheless, Save Coney Islanders think they can find people to run Sunlite Pool, assuming they raise needed funds and convince the symphony to sell it.

"It could be its own entity," Vogelgesang said, noting that former pool staffers and community volunteers are all interested in running the facility.

The Save Coney Islanders Facebook page urges supporters to write elected officials, sign a petition, donate to another fundraiser and buy merchandise. In addition to suggesting a pledge of $500 toward buying the pool, it lists $100, $1,000 and $10,000 options.

The page also asks supporters to attend Thursday's Anderson Township trustees meeting, to speak about the purchase effort during public comment. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at 7850 Five Mile Road, with public comment limited to three minutes per person.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What would it cost to buy Coney Island's Sunlite Pool?