Mason's beloved The Beach waterpark remains closed, embroiled in a courtroom fight over a lease agreement – and even an unpaid water bill.
The highway-hugging, aquatic amusement park, once a summertime destination for generations of Cincinnati-area families, is at the center of a half-million-dollar lawsuit that could determine the future of the property.
Current owner, Mason Waterpark, LLC, is suing its tenant, 2590 Water Park Drive, LLC, for allegedly violating its lease agreement. Court records reveal the tenant owes over $90,700 in back rent from January to October 2025, as well as a water utility bill totaling over $38,000.
Mason Waterpark, LLC, which bought the defunct, 35-acre site in 2022, is seeking over $546,000 in damages, which includes
what the tenant owes through the end of its lease in 2031.
The owner is also asking the court to order the tenant to vacate the property, according to the complaint filed with the Warren County Court of Common Pleas in February.
On Sept. 17, Judge Timothy Tepe set a date for a bench trial next July.
Who owns The Beach waterpark?
Located just north of Great Wolf Lodge and Kings Island, The Beach at Adventure Landing, its formal name now, opened in 1985 and was once among Greater Cincinnati's top recreation destinations.
Over the past 15 years, it's changed hands multiple times and closed twice.
In August 2022, Mason Waterpark, LLC purchased the site for $1.75 million.
Who is the tenant?
At that time, Florida-based 2590 Water Park Drive, LLC entered into a lease agreement with the owners running through 2031.
That lease was allegedly guaranteed by several entities tied to the Adventure Landing amusement park chain, including former Beach property owner, Adventure Holdings LLC.
One of the company's sister sites in Jacksonville, Florida, is being turned into an apartment complex, while news is swirling that employees at another in Missouri aren't currently being paid. Last month, Adventure Landing in Raleigh, North Carolina, closed with plans to auction off pieces of park decor.
What the owner says
Patrick O'Niel, attorney for Mason Waterpark, LLC, said the original lease agreement allowed The Beach to reopen.
"My understanding is that my clients leased it thinking it was going to be operated as a waterpark again," he told The Enquirer. "It wasn't leased for development. But as that infrastructure sits there and has not been kept up, its value as a waterpark diminishes."
Meanwhile, Patrick Madden, a Lexington-based developer and attorney tied to the current ownership group, said he still doesn't know why The Beach never reopened.
"The ball was 100% in their court," he said.
What the tenant says
Attorneys for 2590 Water Park Drive, LLC didn't return multiple call requests for comment.
Will The Beach be redeveloped into something else?
Yes, but Madden said any plans for the site won't move forward until the lease issue is fixed, though he declined to clarify what exactly he has in mind for the The Beach property. He developed Warren County's first Texas Roadhouse near the park in 2023.
"We're anxious to embark on the next chapter once the lawsuit is resolved," he said. "We're hoping to get cooperation from the City of Mason and, hopefully, we can get it redeveloped because we realize it's a key piece of property."
Madden has been involved in a number of other large-scale mixed-use development projects, including Hamburg Place, which is his family's estate and horse farm-turned retail center in Lexington, as well as The Paddocks of Frankfurt, a 95-acre shopping center helmed by a new Target that opened this summer.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Lawsuits replace bathing suits at former Beach waterpark
