Windsor Port Authority to examine ways to block off access to western edge of Sandpoint Beach

Sandpoint Beach seen in Windsor, Ont. on May 20, 2025. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

The chief executive officer of the Windsor Port Authority says ‘the port will take every action’ to make sure access to a dangerous part of Sandpoint Beach is not available.

Steve Salmons said he is in conversation with the city regarding the decision to close Sandpoint Beach and what’s going to happen moving forward.

The Windsor Port Authority owns the land that connects to the western edge of the beach, the place where there’s a steep drop-off and strong currents in the water where the Detroit River meets Lake St. Clair.

The council voted June 9 to close the beach to swimmers effective immediately, eliminating public access to the water while the council awaits the results of a coroner’s investigation into the death of a 15-year-old boy who drowned in the water off the beach on May 19, 2025.

The City of Windsor has been using the land through a licensing agreement with the port, assuming all operations and liability, but council is ending the agreement, which will terminate Jan. 1, and the port authority will resume responsibility after that happens.

Salmons said he is speaking with the mayor about the end of the licensing agreement.

“We want to be sure that whatever future plans they have sync with our future plans for that corner of the property. We also want to make sure whatever we’re doing works with their plan,” he said.

Salmons said when the city comes to a decision on what they’re going to do with the park, they will see if the port can have a supportive role.

“The most immediate concern for the port is Jan. 1, when we resume occupation of this property. We will now, over the next six months, begin to think of how we make that access to the dangerous drop-off and the undercurrents at the west end of the beach as unattractive and unappealing as possible,” he said.

Salmons said they’re not in the beach business and don’t want to be in the beach business.

“We’re in the commercial waterfront business as a custodian of our waterways and also of the safety of our waterways, on the waterways and the shoreline,” he said.

“You can be confident that the port will take every action so that access to that dangerous drop-off will not be available.”

The city will spend the next few weeks closing off water access and scheduling staff to be at the beach to inform visitors of the closure.

Additional signage will be installed to remind visitors that the water is dangerous, and fencing will be installed to close off the remainder of the waterfront access.

All measures to close off the water access at Sandpoint are anticipated to be in place by June 24, and water access will remain closed indefinitely.

The sand area around the playground and the parkland will remain open and accessible for families to enjoy.

In May 2024, two men, aged 25 and 22, also drowned in the same area off Sandpoint.

Council also directed city administration to review the Sandpoint Beach Master Plan, which calls for the relocation of the beach to the eastern end to avoid the drop-off and strong currents, to determine whether the planned work to relocate the beach, modify the existing shoreline, and upgrade amenities will be able to effectively eliminate the risks posed to swimmers.

- Written by Rusty Thomson/AM800 News.