House budget bill would help 'Riverbend 2.0' and Mason tennis tournament
A new music venue at Coney Island, Mason's tennis tournament and Xavier's new medical school would get state money under a bill passed Wednesday by the Ohio House.
The money would come from a one-time pile of cash, known by lawmakers as the "Super Duper Fund," worth $700 million thanks to a federal funding tsunami during the pandemic.
'Riverbend 2.0' to get state help
The proposed $118 million music campus dubbed "Riverbend 2.0" on the old Coney Island amusement park site would get $8 million from the state in an appropriations bill released Tuesday night by members of the Ohio House of Representatives. That's less than the $20 million originally sought by Greater Cincinnati business leaders.
The plans the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has for the old amusement park have sparked protests from historic preservationists and longtime residents who want to preserve the historic site. The symphony's subsidiary, Music and Event Management Inc., known as MEMI, bought the Coney Island property in December 2023 and announced plans to turn the property into a music and entertainment complex. The complex would incorporate MEMI's existing venues next door, Riverbend and PNC Pavilion.
Designs aren't final, but the new stage would likely seat about 22,000 people, slightly more than the current Riverbend, which seats 20,500, MEMI spokeswoman Rosemarie Moehring told The Enquirer in January. The new stage would replace the Riverbend stage as the main stage for large acts. The old Riverbend stage would remain and be used for music festivals and large events that require multiple stages, Moehring said.
Moehring did not respond to messages on Wednesday asking what the $8 million would be used for if it makes it into the final budget.
Where is the money coming from?
The state amassed the $700 million pot of money after federal money surged into the economy and led to higher revenues pouring into state coffers. The Ohio House and Ohio Senate agreed that each chamber would decide how $350 million would be spent. The Ohio Senate this spring will decide how it will spend another $350 million from the "super duper" fund.
Tennis tournament would get money
The Cincinnati Open tennis tournament would get $13.75 million. That would go toward $260 million in upgrades planned to the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason where the Cincinnati Open is held every August, said Matt Davis, president of DSD Advisors, a consultant for the tournament owner, South Carolina-based Beemok Sports & Entertainment.
Beemok is currently in the process of replacing all the seats on the tennis center's main court, Davis said.
"Beemok is going to be reimagining every inch of that facility," Davis said. "It’s going to look completely different than it did before."
The region had come close to losing the prestigious tennis tournament that attracts the top players and tennis fans from around the world. Beemok announced in October the tournament would stay in Mason rather than move to Charlotte.
Beemok will pay for half the upgrades to the tennis center while state and local lawmakers put together a package of $130 million to pay for the other half.
Other Cincinnati projects
The plans to renovate, expand and rehab the area around the Duke Energy Center in Downtown Cincinnati would get $22 million. Cincinnati and Hamilton County will soon begin $200 million in renovations to the convention center.
Xavier University would get $4 million for its Jesuit College of Osteopathic Medicine, which it plans on opening in 2027.
Another $8 million would go to the University of Cincinnati Health. While the legislation doesn't offer details, the Jan. 5 letter from the business community hinted at a project related to the University of Cincinnati Health Cancer Center.
USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau reporter Laura Bischoff contributed.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What the Coney Island music venue would get in the proposed House budget
