Sandpoint Beach: closed to swimming since June 2025, now a campaign pledge
Council endorsed a $15 million plan to move the beach east in January 2025. No construction date is set. Here is the record, the votes and the sources.
- Water access closed since June 9, 2025. The parkland stayed open.
- Master plan endorsed Jan. 27, 2025. Estimated cost: $15 million.
- No reopening date and no construction date set.
- Election Day is Oct. 26, 2026.
Status
Council voted June 9, 2025 to close water access at Sandpoint Beach, 10300 Riverside Dr. E. in Ward 7, after a drowning. Fencing was finished around June 24, 2025. The parkland and the sand area by the playground stayed open.
In a report to council on June 29, 2026 (C 83/2026), City staff said reopening for swimming in 2026 was "not considered achievable." No reopening date has been set.
The plan
Council endorsed the Sandpoint Beach Park Master Plan on Jan. 27, 2025. It would move the swimming beach east, away from a steep underwater drop-off next to the Detroit River shipping channel. Estimated cost: $15 million.
On June 29, 2026, council voted to go ahead with the plan's site changes in phases. CBC reports $4.6 million is in the 10-year capital budget, with most of it available in 2033. The 2026 budget includes $1.5 million for a splash pad.
Safety record
A 2026 Lifesaving Society audit counts nine drownings at or near the beach since it opened in 1980. Four of them happened from 2021 to 2025, all in May. A Lifesaving Society audit council received in 2013 had recommended the city consider moving the beach east.
The 2026 audit found the supervised swim zone "meets a reasonable standard of care" during operating hours. It called the master plan "flawed" because moving the swim area would not stop after-hours access to the hazard.
The campaign
Mayor Drew Dilkens (incumbent) pledged on Oct. 1 to implement the master plan and see it properly funded. He says $2 million to $3 million is in the fund now and engineering is underway.
Coun. Fred Francis seconded the 2025 motion endorsing the plan, plus a June 2025 motion to speed up its safety work and a June 2026 motion to study a partial reopening in 2027. Both of those motions failed, and Dilkens voted against both. Dilkens voted in favour of going ahead with the plan in June 2026.
As of Oct. 3, Windsor News had not found a Sandpoint pledge from the other mayoral campaigns.
Key council votes
| Date | Motion | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 27, 2025 | Endorse the Sandpoint Beach Park Master Plan | Carried, no recorded vote |
| June 9, 2025 | Speed up the plan's safety work and make it a 2026 budget priority | Lost 2-9. Francis and Marignani for. Dilkens against. |
| June 9, 2025 | Close the beach until the coroner's report | Carried, unanimous (City release) |
| June 29, 2026 | Go ahead with the plan's site changes in phases (CR300/2026) | Carried. Only Coun. Mark McKenzie against. |
| June 29, 2026 | Study reopening the east end for the 2027 season | Lost 5-6. For: Agostino, Francis, Marignani, Kaschak, K. McKenzie. Against: Morrison, Gignac, Fathers, Sleiman, M. McKenzie, Dilkens. |
What is still unclear
How much money is set aside. Published figures differ: $4.6 million over 10 years, mostly in 2033 (CBC); about $6 million including the splash pad (Windsor Star); and $2 million to $3 million in the fund now (Dilkens).
How much has been spent so far. Windsor News has not found a total.