During the winter months, urban geographer and artist Daniel Rothstein watches Toronto’s newest beach emerge.
Barges of sand were pulled from the mainland and trucked to Gibraltar Point to create sand dunes, Rothstein told CBC’s Metro Morning on Monday. His studio on Toronto Island allowed him to get a close-up look as workers laid down sand and silt and erected fences around the vegetated areas.
“It feels like when you’ve just moved into an apartment and you don’t have any furniture yet,” Rothstein said. “It has that new beach smell.”
The new beach signals the final stages of a long conservation process that began after a 2004 storm caused so much damage that Gibraltar Point required urgent shoreline repairs.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) secured funding in 2016 and construction on the erosion control project began in 2018. It was closed in 2021 to facilitate the creation of dune habitat—the last stage of the project.
It was amazing to watch, says Rothstein.
“People are the main factor in the geology and the formation of the landscape, and just by seeing trucks going back and forth all day doing the beach, you can really understand the scale of the landscape change,” he said.
John Steele, TRCA’s senior manager of restoration projects, says the beach’s official opening and new name have yet to be decided.
For now, he said, “it is important that users stay away from any fenced areas, as the dunes and surrounding natural areas are very sensitive to trampling.”
Planting in the area will begin this fall and “continue for the next several years,” Steele said.
Rotzstain calls the new beach “stunning.” Over the weekend, he says he can already see people moving from Hanlan’s Point Beach to the new one.
“It feels like a definite new place,” he said.
New beach alert! pic.twitter.com/BfDJVwelO5
—@theurbangeog
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