Hamilton won't have a Beach Crawl after all - just a campaign to coax us into the water

The city envisioned a big splash food trucks, bands, artists to encourage people to swim at Hamilton's beaches. Now Hamilton's Beach Crawl, deemed too expensive, will be whittled down to a simple promotional campaign.

They felt somehow the Skywaywas a separation between the water being contaminated or not.- Coun. Sam Merulla

Sam Merulla, Ward 4 councillor, envisioned a regular warm weather event that promoted swimming at Hamilton's six beaches. But in the end, it would have cost the city $114,000 per year, and even Merulla wasn't up for that.

Merulla envisioned an event that "would encourage people to take advantage of the water," he said. He wanted "a celebration of the fact that at Lake Ontario particularly, our water is swimmable."

Alas, it was not to be. The city issued a request for information for third parties who wanted to hold Beach Crawls over six Saturdays in 2017. The only interested party wanted a $114,000 subsidy.

Instead, the city will develop its own awareness campaign using existing marketing staff and resources. That includes a dedicated page on Tourism Hamilton's website.

Merulla said it's still needed. People swim freely at Burlington beaches, but notHamilton ones, he said. When he askedsome of them why, he said, "they felt somehow the Skyway (bridge) was a separation between the water being contaminated or not."

The ability to swim in the water is a long-standing issue in Hamilton.

Bayfront Beach is closed indefinitely, largely because of E.coli from birds, and the effort to improve swimming conditions in Hamilton Harbour has lasted generations.

But no such issues have plagued Lake Ontario beaches. When people think it's not safe, Merulla said, it's perception rather than reality.

City council's general issues committee voted Wednesday to promote the beaches rather than have a Beach Crawl.

It'll be a while before Hamilton can promote its full beach system, said Chad Collins of Ward 5. This year, flooding washed away portions of Hamilton's Lake Ontario beaches.

samantha.craggs@cbc.ca | @SamCraggsCBC