'It destroys my heart': Windsor Harbourmaster wants dangerous stretch of Sandpoint Beach closed off completely

Peter Berry, while commending the city for installing a larger fence, asked councillors to close the western portion of the beach indefinitely.

“It destroys my heart every time I have to go pick up the young person that beach in the water,” Berry said Monday.

He told council he has participated in more than a dozen rescues or recovery operations in his career and wants to make the western side of the city-owned property completely “unappealing” to beach goers.

“That corner is the issue,” Berry told council.

Berry explained not only does the river floor drop off; the water is also moving quickly.

“We’re almost at 14-15 km/hour,” Berry said. “What’s happening is it’s a suction, so even if there had been people there that day who could swim to save those two young men, we probably would have lost more people. If we had a lifeguard there, we probably would have lost a lifeguard.”

Where the fence will be installed. (Source: Submitted)

On May 24, two men in their 20’s drown off the shore of Sandpoint Beach.

“These two young men just walked along the beach with their two other friends,” Berry said. “They walked along the bottom of the wall and walked right off the shelf.”

Council has decided to spend $36,000 to install an additional fence from Riverside Drive down to the shoreline, connecting to the current fence.

It will mean 15 per cent of the beach frontage will be lost but council decided it was a small price to pay for safety, while it awaits an engineering report expected in early 2025.

The city is looking to move the entire beach to the eastern side of the property, further away from the less dangerous current.

Just last week, the city spent $10,000 replacing the four-foot fence with one that stands eight feet high.Sandpoint Beach fence in Windsor, Ont., on Monday, June 3, 2024. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor)

The city is in the midst of a detailed engineering review of Sandpoint Beach, with a potential plan to move the beach to make the park safer.

Berry suggests closing the western portion of completely until that work is concluded.