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Global News
a day ago
- Climate
- Global News
Ontario city's lone public beach shuttered as summer arrives: ‘Safety must always be the priority'
With temperatures expected to be in the 30s this weekend, Windsor's only public beach will remain off limits for those looking to cool off with a dip. Last week, city council unanimously voted to close Sandpoint Beach while a coroner's investigation into the recent drowning of a 15-year-old male is underway. The teen died while swimming on the beach on May 18, becoming the ninth drowning victim in the water since the beach opened to the public in 1980. 'We understand how much Sandpoint Beach means to residents and families, especially during the summer months. However, safety must always be the priority,' Michael Chantler, commissioner of community services, stated in a release. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy After council decided to close the beach last week, the city said it would be putting up fencing to close off waterfront access and installing signs to warn visitors of the dangers in the water. Story continues below advertisement The city said that work is expected to be completed by Tuesday. 'The Parks and Recreation team is moving quickly and with urgency to put safety measures in place to protect the community,' Chantler said. 'We are already on site, developing signage, arranging for additional fencing, and speaking directly with visitors. We want people to know we're taking this seriously, and we're doing everything we can right now to prevent further tragedy.' Temperatures are expected to reach 32 C on Saturday before rising to a high of 34 C on Sunday, according to Environment Canada. There are other options for area residents to cool off, with splash pads opening last month and a number of indoor pools offering recreational swims. City outdoor pools are scheduled to open on June 29 in time for the long weekend.
CBC
11-06-2025
- CBC
Sandpoint Beach is closed indefinitely. Here's what you need to know
The City of Windsor says there will be measures in place at the city's only public beach this summer to make sure people stay out of the water. City councillors voted unanimously on Monday to close Sandpoint Beach for safety reasons pending the outcome of a coroner's report into a 15-year-old swimmer's death last month. In a statement Tuesday, the city explained the steps it's taking to prevent people from swimming. There will be staff on site to inform the public of the closure, more signage explaining that the water is dangerous, and fencing to close off access to the water. While the beach closure is indefinite and effective immediately, the city says it could take until June 24 for all of these measures to be in place. The parkland, playground and sand will remain accessible to the public. The city says the decision was made for safety reasons following nine drowning deaths since the beach opened in 1980. An area just west of the beach, where several people have drowned, is notorious for dangerous currents. Signs and fencing are already in place in that area. "We understand how much Sandpoint Beach means to residents and families, especially during the summer months. However, safety must always be the priority," Michael Chantler, Windsor's commissioner of community services, said in a media release. "The Parks and Recreation team is moving quickly and with urgency to put safety measures in place to protect the community. We are already on site, developing signage, arranging for additional fencing, and speaking directly with visitors. We want people to know we're taking this seriously, and we're doing everything we can — right now — to prevent further tragedy." The city has approved a $15-million master plan to relocate the beach a short distance to the east and upgrade the amenities in the area. Councillors expressed hope that the coroner's investigation into the most recent death will shed light on the safety risks in the area. Council will revisit the master plan for Sandpoint once the outcome of that investigation is known.
CTV News
10-06-2025
- CTV News
Here's how the city is closing off water access at Sandpoint Beach
Windsor city council voted unanimously to close Sandpoint Beach to swimmers and the city is taking several steps over the next few weeks to ensure water access is closed off. The decision took effect on Monday, June 9, 2025. It eliminates public access to the water while council awaits the results of a coroner's investigation currently underway. The decision has been made to support community safety and wellbeing, and in response to the ninth tragic drowning incident since the beach opened to the public in 1980. 'We understand how much Sandpoint Beach means to residents and families, especially during the summer months. However, safety must always be the priority. The Parks and Recreation team is moving quickly and with urgency to put safety measures in place to protect the community. We are already on site, developing signage, arranging for additional fencing, and speaking directly with visitors. We want people to know we're taking this seriously, and we're doing everything we can — right now — to prevent further tragedy,' said Michael Chantler, commissioner of community services. Over the next few weeks, the City of Windsor will facilitate closing off water access at the beach through the following measures: Scheduling city staff to be at the beach to inform visitors of the closure Installing additional signage to remind visitors that the waters are dangerous Installing additional fencing to close off the remainder of the waterfront access The city anticipates having all measures to close off water access at Sandpoint Beach in place by June 24, 2025. Water access at the beach will remain closed indefinitely. Sand area, playground, parkland will remain open While water access is closed at this time, the sand area around the playground and the parkland will remain open and accessible for families to enjoy the sand and outdoor waterfront setting. City council also directed city administration to review the Sandpoint Beach Master Plan 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 entering waters adjacent to the mouth of the Detroit River, where they may be susceptible to the dangerous currents that exist within the established nearby shipping channel.
CTV News
02-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
WFCU Centre update
Since a morning fire at the WFCU Centre in late April, the city says damage assessment has been ongoing. 'Losing an ice pad is devastating to our inventory,' acknowledged Michael Chantler, commissioner of city services. 'As we kind of peel back the layers, we are discovering exactly what has happened to the building and as a result of what has happened so far, it looks like we're going to lose at least the season coming up.' A lot of water was poured on the fire. Initially, the thought was the roof wasn't breached. However, it was, and a lot of water made its way inside. The two community rinks next to the AM800 rink were also damaged but not as significantly. 'All of the insulation was soaked, so there's significant water damage. There may have been extensive damage to the air handlers as well, so we're working on the air handlers in that area as well,' Chantler said to CTV News. Remediation is being scheduled on both rinks, perhaps on a rotating basis to avoid too much interruption. As for the AM800 rink, windows are covered with no access to the rink as the investigation continues. 'You can't get up and just fix the roof like a traditional roof, so we are actually going to fix the roof from the inside working up,' said Chantler. The plan is to investigate damage from both sides of the roof to determine the overall damage, and that is expected to take time. 'The actual roof structure itself, and there's multiple layers to the membranes that protect it, but it's been completely destroyed in some areas,' said Chantler. The initial damage was estimated to be about a million dollars, but city officials expect that number to climb significantly. 'There are a number of people that have to get in there and do their investigations to find cause, to find what equipment was involved. They're all entitled to have a certain period of time to be in there to do that and so that is the stage we're in right now,' Chantler said.
CBC
02-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Curling swept aside? Windsor mulls ice shortage options after arena fire
The short-term fate of curling in Windsor, Ont., once again up in the air. A new city report headed to council next Monday outlines a recommendation that would see the curling ice at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex reconverted to ice skating — leaving local curlers temporarily out of luck for the next season. This after just last year curling was forced to move from Roseland Golf Course grounds — so the clubhouse and curling could be demolished — into the twin-pad south Windsor arena. That move lowered the city's public skating rinks from nine to eight. Ice schedulers across the border city have now been thrown for another loop following the loss of one rink at the WFCU Centre. City officials believe it will take at least 10 months to repair the AM800 pad after hundreds of solar panels were destroyed in a rooftop fire on federal election day, April 28. "It is unsafe to allow anyone on the damaged area, and it has been deemed unsafe to allow the public to walk beneath," the report states. The city report also outlines water damage in the insulation above the rinks while other mechanical systems are still being investigated. Michael Chantler, the city's commissioner of community services, calls the situation "completely unfortunate," and "devastating" to their programming. "There's no perfect scenario where we can satisfy everyone," he told CBC News. "It puts us in a very difficult position as administration and we're just going to try and do what we can do best for most people in the community." The city says it would cost $10,000 to change the curling ice back to regular skating ice at Capri. The move would put curling on pause, temporarily, until the 2026-2027 season. CBC News reached out to a local group focused on saving the future of curling in Windsor and has yet to hear back. The main tenant of the AM800 rink is the Riverside Minor Hockey Association (RMHA), which serves more than 600 young people and uses about 53 hours of ice each week on the pad — across all rinks at the WFCU it's more like 80 hours and $441,000 of revenue for the city, according to association president Anne Marie Schofield. "It makes clear and logical sense from a disaster recovery perspective," she said, as it relates to getting the bulk of affected users back up and running to maintain their business. According to Schofield, curlers have every right to be upset but that is a short-term thing. "This is one season, hopefully. No one wants to remove curling completely. We adapted to that change a year ago and we'll adapt again," she said. "We're looking for them to adapt now to this." Municipal staff said in the report that curling books around 14 hours of ice each week at the current Capri arena complex and generated around $155,000 during the 2024-2025. Chantler says the revenue generated by the skating groups versus curling was a factor in their decision with such a "decent disparity" between the two. "This caught us obviously completely by surprise. You can't plan for a fire," he said. Schofield said keeping her hockey association and Riverside's skating club at "home" during any ice adjustment was critical for them.
