In 1877, the gap between the lower end of the Andrejs dam and the island which had been left behind by excavators or by nature itself was widened, and this allowed for the creation of a winter port for small ships – those with a draught of up to eight feet. The banks of this port which were opposite the Andrejs dam were strengthened in 1880 and 1881. This created a closed basin which was also named for Andrejs. It has not changed in terms of its configuration to this very day, although these days it is only home to yachts which are taken out of the water during the winter.

The railway tracks which still run along the shore of the Andrejs basin parallel to the Daugava coincide with the Esplanade dam track that had been installed by Veismanis. This rail line ran to the now forgotten Muita garden after the dismantling of the tracks that ran along the bank of the Daugava.

It is very possible that the designers made use of a part of the ancient dam for this purpose.The bank of the basin which is perpendicular to the flow of the Daugava, meanwhile, indicates that this is the place where the Andrejs island was first connected to the shore, thus formally becoming a peninsula. It would be known as an island for some years to come, however, and with good reason. Even in the early 20th century it was connected to the shore only by a narrow strip of land. It was only in 1910 that the area took on its present day appearance. In 1881 and 1882, work began on adapting Andrejsala to the needs of a port. The shore that was oriented toward the Daugava was strengthened along approximately one kilometre of length. The problem was that the island was partly isolated from dry land, which made it difficult to install access roads and various forms of communications. On the other hand, it also presented a great advantage in comparison to the city shoreline and even the Muita garden – it had free land alongside its shores, which meant that there were further opportunities for development.