Coney Island in Ohio ready to start 125th anniversary season following winter and spring floods
5/27/2011CINCINNATI — One of the oldest amusement parks in the U.S. is opening its 125th season in Ohio following floods that inadvertently turned it into a water park during the winter and spring.
Coney Island sits alongside the Ohio River east of downtown Cincinnati. The river flooded in March and April, forcing the park to move ride motors and other equipment out of the water's way and cancelling several performances of a Cirque du Soleil acrobatics show under a big-top tent set up in the Coney Island parking lot.
The park will celebrate its big anniversary throughout the new season that starts Saturday. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports it was originally called "Ohio Grove, the Coney Island of the West" when the first guests arrived in 1886.
A commemorative brick program will benefit the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The bricks are $75 and may be engraved with personalized messages.
The park expects to raise thousands of dollars with the program, which will continue as long as the park has spots for the bricks, said Mary Schumacher, senior vice president of sales and marketing.
"Since Coney it all about kids, it is a great way for our customers to have fun and support such a great hospital," she said.
READ MORE: The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Swim, ride and play at Coney Island"