5 things the city is considering to fix (or not fix) Bayfront beach
Make your choice — vote in our poll
The city is trying to figure out what to do with the polluted mess that is Bayfront Beach — but there is no clear-cut answer.
After an online survey that netted just over 400 responses, city staffers held a "conversation couch" in downtown Hamilton Thursday, to talk with people about what their hopes are for the beach. It's the latest in a community consultation process exploring what to do with the beach, after 20 years of trying.
- Bayfront Beach deemed 'not suitable' for recreation, says Public Health
- 20 years later, swimming still too risky at Hamilton's bayfront parks
"Bayfront beach is very problematic, water quality wise," said Eric Mathews, manager of water safety programs. "It's chronically polluted. Our recommendation is people shouldn't use it until something is done with the water quality."
But what should be done? Well, the city is currently asking for opinions on five options:
- Do nothing. Close the beach.
- Clean up the water and beach, and use it for both water and land recreation.
- Focus solely on cleaning up the land, and use it for recreation.
- Clean up the water and focus on "deep water" swimming alone, without a beach.
- Turn the area into a wetland.
The Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan says water quality at the harbour's public beaches — Bayfront Park and Pier 4 Park — must meet provincial beach management protocol for 80 per cent of the swimming season or more for three consecutive years.
Bayfront Beach hasn't met that criteria since 1999.
Public Health officials often temporarily close the area to swimming because of E.coli and blue green algae levels. Last year, the man-made beach was deemed unsafe for swimming 78 per cent of the time between Victoria Day and Labour Day.
Lake Ontario and conservation authority beaches fare better in Hamilton. Since 2010, a report shows, those beaches — Beach Boulevard, Confederation Park and Van Wagners, as well as Binbrook and Christie — have remained open more than 90 per cent of the time.
What do you think should be done with the beach? Let us know in our poll: