The new music venue being built on the site of Cincinnati's former Coney Island will honor a piece of the site's Civil Rights history. Music & Event Management Inc., known as MEMI, Tuesday unveiled plans for a monument to Marian and Donald Spencer at the Farmer Music Center.
"Marian and Donald Spencer were trailblazers. Marian, in particular, was so important in desegregating much of Cincinnati's assets," says CEO Michael Smith. "She worked very hard here on this property decades ago, and her husband was involved with us at the CSO in music, [so] there's a connection there, and we think it's the right thing to do."
When her children were denied entry to Coney Island in the 1950s because of their skin color, Marian Spencer stood outside the gates and demanded change. Her subsequent lawsuit led to integration in 1952. She also fought to desegregate Cincinnati Public Schools.
Donald Spencer was the first African American broker on the Cincinnati Board of Realtors, the first African American trustee of Ohio University and first African American member of the Cincinnati Park Board, as well as a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's board.
"The inspiration behind the Spencer Water Monument is the concept of movement led by the courage to remove barriers," explains Robert McGrath, CSO president. "Prominently positioned along a renewed central avenue leading west to the Farmer Music Center, the Spencer Water Monument will feature a laser-etched 1950s family portrait of Marian and Don on striking black granite. This will be framed by cascading waterfalls flowing from a dedicated reader rail. At the foot of the monument will stand the main reader, offering a spectacular view of the portrait, avenue and the Farmer Music Center."
MEMI says it worked closely with the Spencer family on the monument and members of the family were on hand for Tuesday's announcement.
Construction update
Construction is underway on the $160 million Farmer Music Center and it's slated to open in spring 2027. The outdoor amphitheater is designed to hold 20,000 people, with 8,000 reserved seats and 12,000-capacity general admission lawn made of synthetic grass. It will have a 300,000-square foot concourse and 25 bars and concession stands across three levels.
"This will be ... probably the most impactful amphitheater in the country, and I think that means a lot to the region," Smith says. "Competition has gotten very difficult regionally and nationally for artists, and it's important that we have a venue that artists want to play in, and certainly fans want to be enjoying the events in the facility."
He says the venue's vertical design will create an intimate environment that will attract artists. Like Riverbend, the lawn seats will be at the back of the venue. However, they'll be elevated, similar to an indoor theater design.
The amphitheater is being built beside Riverbend and the PNC Pavilion, two of MEMI's existing outdoor venues. That's led to questions about the possibility of bringing in festival concerts in the future.
Smith isn't ruling that out, though he does point out the majority of events will take place at Farmer, with Riverbend being used for special events.
"The beauty of the site is, in fact, it has three fixed facilities with concession stands, restrooms, parking facilities, roads, access. It is not a built-out facility for specifically a festival, so we can accommodate developing a festival or creating an environment for other festivals to expand into this space," he says.
You can see more proposed renderings of the Farmer Music Center in this video.
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