Critics slam Cincinnati Symphony’s pool conversion

That’s my advice to the groups shaming the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for turning its new property that straddles Anderson Township and Cincinnati to the east into a huge, modern, multimedia music venue at the expense of an old swimming pool that opened before we were all born. The protestors claim that the Symphony board shouldn’t ignore the pool’s history, legacy and purpose in 2024, and they’re trying to damage the orchestra’s image as leverage to get their way. Never mind, they say, that the amusement park had an ugly racist history only until local hero Marian Spencer and others bravely integrated it in the mid-1950s.  But that’s not the only point. Look, the Coney Island property until just a few months back was owned by a private family. And just using common sense and modern trends with water parks, you’d think that decaying infrastructure, insurance costs, staffing, food services, daily maintenance, regular Ohio River floods and inflation put the operation in the red recently. So, the family sold the property to the Symphony so its Music & Event Management, Inc. (MEMI) profit-making arm can create a massive world class music venue that will bring bigger and more major acts to...