During the winter months, geographer and urban artist Daniel Rotsztain saw Toronto’s newest beach born.
The sand barges were transported from the mainland and transported by truck to Gibraltar Point to create sand dunes, Rotsztain told CBC Metro Morning on Monday. His study on the island of Toronto allowed him to see up close as workers distributed sand and sediment and erected fences around areas designated for vegetation.
“It looks like you’ve just moved into an apartment and there’s still no furniture,” Rotsztain said. “It has this new beach smell.”
The new beach marks the final stages of a long conservation process that began after a 2004 storm caused so much damage that Gibraltar Point required emergency repairs to the coast.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) secured funding in 2016 and construction of the erosion control project began in 2018. In 2021 it was closed to facilitate the creation of a dune habitat: l final stage of the project.
It’s been amazing to see him, Rotsztain says.
“Humans are kind of a major factor in geology and landscape formation and just seeing trucks going back and forth all day doing the beach, you could really understand the scale of landscape change,” he said.
John Stille, senior director of TRCA restoration projects, says the official opening of the beach and the new name have not yet been decided.
For now, he said “it is important that users stay out of all enclosed areas as the dunes and surrounding natural spaces are very sensitive to trampling.”
Planting in the area will begin this fall and “will continue for years to come,” Stille said.
Rotzstain describes the new beach as “impressive”. Over the weekend, he says he was already able to see people moving from Hanlan’s Point Beach to the new one.
“It looks like a clearly new place,” he said.
New beach alert! He pic.twitter.com/BfDJVwelO5
– @theurbangeog