Clear Creek and Gilpin Counties are teaming up to open a shooting range at the site of the former Clear Creek County Sportsman’s Club on Stanley Road.
The new facility, which Clear Creek County Special Projects Manager Lisa Leben said is set to open by summer 2024, is designed for 45 outdoor shooting lanes and an operations building with restrooms and a classroom.
Clean up of the previous CCCSC site, which existed for decades with a lease through the county, is nearly complete. More than 60,000 pounds of lead (bullets) have already been remediated from the site, according to county commissioners.
The nearly $2 million project is funded by a $1.1 million grant from Colorado Parks & Wildlife. Gilpin County will kick in an additional $400,000 toward completion.
An important reason for the range is to entice legal shooting on U.S. land surrounding Clear Creek County, according to Leben.
“We were having problems with recreational shooting in dispersed areas of the National Forest in several counties,” Leben said.
Initial estimates put the cost of renting a shooting lane at $20 an hour. Discounts for Clear Creek and Gilpin County residents are still being discussed, Leben said.
Clear Creek County is still searching for qualified applicants to manage and operate the public gun range.
As a member of Clear Creek County Sportsmans Club , I’ll be shooting in the
National Forest . $20 an hour , with a 60 mile round trip , to shoot is too expensive for me .
I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels betrayed by Clear Creek County Commissioners and CPW .
Unfortunately it’s unlikely Clear Creek will recruit an entrepreneur to run this range as the commissioners envision. The RFP doesn’t address the significant operational risks involved with operating a shooting range, much less one in this location, that are completely outside the control of the business person intending to run it. The potential upside for an investor simply isn’t there; the dearth of responses to the RFP and lack of operator prospects should be instructive to CCC.
1. Closure – the range is subject to seasonal fire ban closure. Stage 2 bans eliminate discharge of firearms anywhere in the county, including at designated outdoor ranges. These occur periodically during the summer, subject to the county Sheriff’s office mandate.
2. Utility – the range is in the shade for almost half the year in the winter, snow doesn’t melt and it’s frigid in this location. Loading magazines with frozen fingers simply isn’t recreational.
3. Insurance – operating a shooting range poses a significant risk and insurance is priced accordingly.
4. Traffic – I-70 often becomes a nightmare both in summer and winter. Likelihood of patrons to choose to pay at this range when other options exist is low given the difficulty of access. I-70 construction at Floyd Hill will exacerbate this concern.
The commissioner’s ‘build it and they will come’ attitude is business naive and irresponsible given that $1.4 million has been allocated for this project *without* an operator.
It’s much more likely that the expensive design of this range will require ongoing county subsidization or direct operation in order to remain a viable option for shooting sports enthusiasts.