"Not that there will be swimming" ... why not? Couldn't the city hire youth as lifeguards for a couple months in the summer?

With the lake levels declining, we could have miles of beach soon. :)

This is great news. The part that bothers me is that people have been talking about buffalo needing a beach for YEARS. People have specifically been talking about the sand beach on the Marina for YEARS. I don't understand why the good people of City Hall seem to be clueless that these issues exist until a reporter/blogger has to drag them out of city hall down to the shore and personally point it out to them.

Oh Well... in the end, the right thing is getting done. That makes me happy :)

P.S. how are they getting the sand for free? Does the city have a pile somewhere?

It'll be important to post some rules or such for boats and skidoos with limits on their acceptable approaches to the new beach.

All that's needed after the addition of sand and the removal of the driftwood is a safe wooden stairway leading down. Good job, Newell and Brian!

They should build a beach on the East Side instead, where it's really needed.

/checks map

Never mind.

well if you can put a beach here, then why cant you create one at LaSalle Park?

HOW MUCH COMMON SENSE DOES IT TAKE TO THINK THAT IF WE CAN PUT A BEACH WITH SAND AT THE EDGE OF LASALLE PARK

The Niagara Expressway would be like chicagos lakeside drive

I can't help but laugh at the fact that neither the Councilman or the Mayor had any clue this existed until Newell told them about it.

Rich people on Marine Drive and other boat owners will never allow this to happen. You think they want young half naked minorities running around their boat slips? I dont think so.

I love the idea - I just see it as another pie in the sky idea that will never get finished.

So AuburnAve, all rich people are white? All of them are racist? All of the people that go to the beach will be non-white and poor, of course? Please write more intelligent comments.

While they are at it, can they get rid of the crap that has been growing thru the rocks? There is one bush(for lack of a better term) down at the hatch end and another big one at the tower end.

This a great idea - no matter who uses the beach - there are all walks of like at erie basin marina - and will add to the value of our waterfront.

HOWEVER, This area was never developed not because it was overlooked. I am sure the water is very polluted. A beach will only invite people to swim. I believe the drift wood is there to deter people from swimming in this part of the lake. .......

You guys are all so stupid. Be honest and think about how things happen in Buffalo. You both really think that THE MOST segregated city in the US would want a public beach right near their precious boat launches?l

Queenseyes, What about just getting some friends that own a chainsaw and opening the beach yourselves?

Auburn Ave - you should patrol the new beach next summer and just charge andmission

I always thought how easy this would be to get started, that sand if there natuirally already from years of currents bringing it in from the lakes. Therefore I don't think keeping the sand there would be a problem.

Hell there is a HUGE pile of it off of the fuhrmann Blvd all year round, just get some of that and dump it here, mix it up and say done! the wood can be used for a number of things. big pieces could be chopped up and sold for firewood or donated to state parks, benched can be created, or even a creative artist could use the materials to build the infrastructure (stairs, signs,benches etc.. needed in and around the Erie Basin Marina.)

as a last option if people thought it would be too expensive, why not just make a big bon fire and invite everyone sell some beer and have a good time. There is nothing around there that would start on fire and you could do it when the boats are already pulled and the marina is closed. Doesn't seem like a bunch of sticks and logs should really get in the way. I am sure if they even just pulled it up and made it accessible to the road people would just start taking it for one reason or another, fireplaces, furnaces, art.. whatever.

I am really glad that BR has actually brought this and other things to the attention of politicians. It is really amazing that anyone who lives in Buffalo has never seen or thought of this place as having more potential than a dumping ground for the lakes driftwood.

as for swimming how about a sign that says swim at your own risk. costs 100 bucks and if people are stupid enough to drown or not watch their kids then it is their own fault. I really hate it when all of us are punished and limited with our rights because of few people can control themselves.

Any chance this is going to be a topless beach? Maybe it will get Willis back here??

Today's Bflo News added more momentuum to a very good idea.

Clean-up could be expedited by opening the diftwood-littered beach at designated times for scavengers or volunteers to come in with chainsaws to remove free firewood for themselves or to sell as a beachbuidling fundraiser.

Thanks to BfloRising & Brian Davis for pushing a long-overdue inititiative.

COPY: http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buffaloerie/story/155351.html

Erie Basin Marina may get a beach; But swimming would be unlikely

By Brian Meyer NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Updated: 09/05/07 6:54 AM

Sunbathing rituals will end soon, but city officials are looking ahead to next summer, when a beachfront may be created at Erie Basin Marina.

The Common Council unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that calls on city officials to look into cleaning up a stretch of shoreline near the marina’s observation tower and converting it into a sandfilled recreational area.

While it’s unlikely that swimming would be permitted at the site, given the water current and other factors, officials said it could become a picturesque spot for sunbathing, boat-watching and other summer pastimes.

Mayor Byron W. Brown, who frequents the marina and was inspecting the site last weekend, said he’s eager to find out whether the plan could work.

“It’s certainly a creative idea that’s worth exploring,” Brown said. “It would seem to be a very good location. It’s a beautiful area . . . .”

Ellicott Council Member Brian C. Davis sponsored the resolution but gave credit to the Web site Buffalo Rising for advancing the idea. Davis said the area in question is already known as Tower Shoreline Beach. He’s convinced that unsightly rocks, driftwood and other debris could be removed with relative ease.

“I think it would take us a matter of a week or two,” Davis said.

But cleaning up the site is only one issue. Before a beach area could be created, Brown said, the city would have to answer several key questions, including how much money it would cost to operate the site. Public works officials will take a closer look at the proposal in the coming months.

The downtown marina already has some amenities to support a beach area, advocates insisted, including bathrooms, parking and a restaurant.

This isn’t the first time a push has been launched to turn the stretch of waterfront land into a beachfront. Davis said the idea was proposed years ago before Brown was mayor, but it “fell on deaf ears.”

bmeyer@buffnews.com