By Anna Reisman and Mehek Chhabra
SUNY Plattsburgh
Feb. 27, 2026
PLATTSBURGH — The Plattsburgh City Common Council approved a $1.125 million grant for improvements at City Beach, including a new playground, gazebos and bilingual signage.
The council passed the measure by a unanimous vote Feb. 5, with member David Monette saying he was “really happy to see this get off the ground.”
Mayor Wendell Hughes said the city will also be looking for outside sponsors to help fund the beach maintenance.
“One thing we haven’t been good at is maintaining our property,” Hughes said during the council meeting. “We’re going to look for sponsors to maybe help us, and I think down at the beach would be a great place. There’s no more beautiful freshwater beach in America, so I’m pretty excited about this.”
The investments come as the city has been actively installing security cameras at City Beach in the wake of a Sept. 15 incident when about 20 TVs were dumped there and bathroom doors vandalized. It left the beach closed for about two weeks.
Since then, over 10 security cameras have been installed along the beach, and the City Police Department holds routine patrols. Hughes said he also walks the beach every day and checks each of its 17 doors.
Plattsburgh resident Ben Martin encouraged the council to take aesthetics into consideration during the renovations. He lamented that the old wooden boardwalk was recently replaced with asphalt, which may get uncomfortably hot in the summer.
“I would just encourage you, in the future, when you think about these projects, let’s not just go with the lowest bid, the fastest thing,” Martin said. “Let’s think about the aesthetics, how it looks, and the character of the place before we go with the cheapest option.”
The city will also remove many cottonwood trees and install bilingual signage to better accommodate Canadian visitors, who make up a significant portion of summer tourism.
“We must have bilingual signs in French and do better to be welcoming as a city,” Hughes said. “With how close we are to the border, that is simply practical.”