KINGSTON – The man leading the call to have the Gord Edgar Downie Pier closed at night during the summer months said he is looking for the idea to be debated in front of city council.

But when city councillors had their first opportunity on Thursday night to put such a motion forward, none materialized.

Phillip Brown, who has been the spokesperson for the effort and has been gathering names on a petition calling for the pier to be gated off at night during the summer months for safety reasons, told the city’s administrative policies committee that the proposal is meant to close a small portion of Breakwater Park, leaving most of it accessible 24 hours a day.

Brown said the ultimate goal is to have a motion put in front of city council for consideration.

As of Friday morning, 409 people had signed the online petition.

Brown said the pier is an attraction within the park, and like many attractions elsewhere in the city, could be closed at night.

Closing the pier at night, Brown said, would go a long way to preventing a drowning, particularly among inebriated students who he said go to the pier after a night at the bars.

Brown said other city-owned attractions are closed at night and other cities have similar policies.

“It’s not about the death. It’s about community safety,” Brown said.

“We owe it to our youth.”

In a letter to the committee, resident Jane McFarlane went a step further.

McFarlane suggested fencing off the pier and using the access gates as screening points to search visitors for alcohol and glass bottles.

McFarlane also suggested charging an entrance fee to help cover the cost of lifeguarding and bylaw patrols.

The rebuilding of Breakwater Park cost more than $6.5 million, including a $1 million Canada 150 grant and $500,000 from the W. Garfield Weston Foundation that contributed through Swim Drink Fish Canada’s Great Lakes Challenge.

Peter Rubens, who lives opposite the park on King Street, said the noise and garbage levels have been exaggerated by those seeking to close the pier at night.

In an address to the committee, Rubens said the park has obviously been busier since it reopened after the renovation.

But he suggested the city not be too hasty in trying to make the pier safer, and he recommended it take a measured approach.

“Shutting down the pier will not stop the noise,” he said, adding that a fence would not stop those determined to get onto the pier and could create a barrier to emergency services’ response to the area.

“The park has only been with us for three months and we are already talking about shutting it down,” he said.

“Three months is not really long enough to give it a proper judgment.”

Instead, Rubens said additional police patrols can be more effective at maintaining public order around the pier.