Sandpoint Beach to remain closed as the city works on Master Plan phases

A view of Sandpoint Beach along Riverside Drive in Windsor.

Sandpoint Beach will remained closed to the public.

Windsor city council was presented with a report on Monday regarding Sandpoint Beach and next steps to improve safety. The report included the Lifesaving Society Safety Audit which provided four options on how the city can move forward in order to ensure the beach is safe for the community to utilize.

Sandpoint Beach was fenced off and closed to swimmers in June 2025 after a 15-year-old drowned and two earlier fatalities.

The options identified in the audit included reopening the beach, permanently closing the beach, implementing modified access to the beach such as with a gate, and implementing site modifications associated with the 2024 Sandpoint Beach Master Plan.

Council approved moving forward with the modifications associated with the Master Plan in phases. The Master Plan currently has $4.6-million in the fund, however it is estimated that $15-million is needed to complete all of the requirements in that plan.

The city also earmarked $1.5-million in the 2026 budget for a splash pad to be installed at Sandpoint Beach.

The proposed Master Plan calls for the full relocation of the beach from the west end to the east end to steer clear of the steep drop-off and strong currents at the western edge where the Detroit River meets Lake St. Clair.

Ward 7 councillor Angelo Marignani put forward a notice of motion asking for council to investigate the feasibility of opening just the eastern portion of the beach for the 2027 season and remove the fencing on that side, however the motion failed.

Marignani says he’s happy with what was approved.

“We have $6-million which is enough to start the movement of the beach, it’s only $4-million - I believe - to relocate it. So we could start that immediately. So, great news, great news as far as moving forward to making that beach just the gem it should be.”

He says relocating the beach is crucial.

“After that last tragedy, we were waiting for the coroner’s report and that fence was only supposed to be a bandage. The Master Plan is the cure, that’s the end game.”

Marignani says instead of a traditional splash pad, he’d like to see an outdoor mister option that everyone in the community can enjoy.

“It’s these artistic trees that mist water, so people sit all around it and get a cool mist, and little kids run through it and get soaking wet. So if were to go into a splash pad people would be saying ‘who is that creep’, but I can sit by the mister and have this cool mist and actually feel cold when it’s 35 degrees Celsius outside.”

Marignani says he’d love to see the relocation of the beach, and work on the splash pad to get underway as soon as possible, and hopes additional funding can be set aside in the 2027 budget.

A timeline for construction of the splash pad was not provided by mayor Drew Dilkens.

The Master Plan also includes shoreline enhancements, a walkway for pedestrians, facility upgrades to the washrooms and outdoor showers, among more.

Since the beach opened in 1980, nine people have drowned in the water near the beach.