Shooting Range - CLOSED
The Larimer County Shooting Range (which first opened in June, 1986) was closed permanently at the end of hunting season in December, 2000.
There were a number of reasons why the County Commissioners decided to close this facility:
- Ground water in the fill under the shooting bays had caused the gravel-filled walls to become dangerously unstable. Half of the south bays had been removed; but the remainder were deemed unsafe for continued public use at the end of the season.
- Residential development surrounding the landfill had increased the potential risk of errant bullets to an unacceptable level; and complaints from residents were on the rise.
- Planned landfill expansion onto the shooting range site within the next 5-10 years prohibited redevelopment of the facility at the same location, because the substantial cost of such improvements cannot be justified as a short term investment.
A public task force appointed by the Commissioners spent almost a year evaluating various alternatives, and recommended that a new site be
located for a new, expanded facility. However, the Commissioners were unable to commit County funds for this purpose; and encouraged the group to pursue public/private partnerships toward this end. As far as we are aware, there has been no further progress on this issue.
There are several privately-operated shooting facilities in the Northern Colorado region which are open to the public. For information, please call our office at 679-4570.
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