|
 Commissioner
Tom Collins, Senator John Lee, Senator Harry Reid,
Congresswoman Shelly Berkley, Commissioner Rory Reid,
and County Manager Virginia Valentine take part in
breaking ground for the Shooting Park.
The
Clark County commissioners and Congressional representatives hosted
the first phase ground-breaking ceremony for the
nation’s largest public shooting facility on Saturday,
October 21. The 2,900-acre world class facility will be
built on North Decatur Boulevard about 5 miles north of the I-215 Beltway.
When
fully built out, the park is expected to draw
competitive shooters from around the world, provide law
enforcement training facilities and give Southern Nevada’s
recreational shooters a safe and affordable place
to shoot, county officials said.
“People
in the Las Vegas Valley used to be able to just go out in the desert and shoot
their guns,” said Commissioner Tom Collins, who
represents the area where the park is being built. “
Las Vegas has grown a lot since then and we need to have a safe
and affordable place where citizens can go and practice.
This park has been a long time coming.”
The
$61 million, 225-acre first phase, expected to open in
January 2008, will feature a 30-site host area for RV
camping; a clay target center with 96 RV spaces and a 24
combination trap and skeet field with a
5,000-square-foot building with a pro shop and
cafeteria; an archery building with a 30-seat classroom
and restrooms; a “known-distance” archery range; a
public rifle and pistol range with a pro shop and
convenience store; and a hunter education center with a
90-seat classroom with archery, rifle, pistol and
shotgun ranges and a simulated hunting course. Almost
$30 million of the total cost will pay for extending
utilities and Decatur Boulevard about a mile to the site with flood control facilities.
When
completed, the project will be a world-class park with
facilities for local sport shooting enthusiasts as well
as accommodations for major national shooting events.
Planned amenities not mentioned above include an indoor
range, public day-use ranges, tactical ranges, rifle and
pistol silhouette ranges, a bench rest range, a cowboy
mounted shooting arena and a 1,200-yard high-power rifle
range. A 35-seat classroom will accompany each range.
Shotgun enthusiasts will benefit from 125 trap and 24
skeet ranges as well as sporting clays and international
trap facilities. Archers will have an International
Archery Federation (FITA)-approved archery range and
three field courses.
The
park, located on North Decatur Boulevard about five
miles north of the I-215 Beltway, is being funded with
grants from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management
Act, which uses money from the sale of public lands to
pay for parks, trails and natural areas within the
county. The park has been in the planning stages since
before the land was transferred to the county from the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management in November 2002.
Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign, along with Reps.
Jim Gibbons and Shelley Berkley, sponsored the act that
provided the land.
““This
site will be – bar none – the finest shooting
facility in the world,” said Sen. Reid. “I have
been fighting to make this shooting park a reality for
more than five years and I'm proud of the partnerships
between Clark County, sportsmen and women, local police,
and many others that have made it possible. I look
forward to coming back when the doors officially
open.”
The
county hired Don Turner, then manager of Arizona’s successful Ben Avery Shooting Facility, in 2003 to
start the planning process for the park. Turner is now
the county’s Shooting Park manager. More information about the park is available on
its Web pages at www.accessclarkcounty.com/parks
or may be obtained by contacting Turner at 455-8199 or dturner@co.clark.nv.us.
###
|
|
