A $10M state shooting complex could be built outside of Cody after the town pitched the task force earlier this week in Casper.
After the passing of SF0169 and subsequent announcement was made back in March, nine towns across the Cowboy State created committees, secured acres of land, brought in experts, and compiled research to try to convince a task force that not only should the world-class complex be built in their town, but it would be a sustainable events center for years to come.
State shooting complexes like Cameo Shooting and Education Complex in Palisade, Colorado and the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, Arizona offer competitive shooters from all over the country and the world, to compete for cash prizes in different forms of sponsored, firearm and archery accuracy. And that means big money for the towns and the states that host these competitions.
The group of nine was winnowed down to four earlier this month, and on Monday and Tuesday of this week, members of the Cody committee went down to Casper to give their best pitch on why the complex deserves to be built in Park County.
James Klessens, Director of Forward Cody told Mac Watson on “Mac in the Morning” on KODI that Cody came prepared and gave an excellent presentation with their 278-page report complete with annotations, photos, and appendices.
“[Mayor] Matt Hall started the presentation and other members followed him in telling the group why [Cody] deserves this shooting complex,” Klessens explained. “The task force told us that it was going to come down to the site, about a third of their decision was based on where the shooting complex would be located.”
Klessens said that the spot in Park is “the best with lots of great views and topography” out of the other sites he saw during the presentations. The site that has been chosen is “10 minutes right outside of town” on the Meeteetse Highway. It’s a 2,036-acre piece of land that is owned by the state and offers scenic vista views of the snow-capped Carter Mountain.
After the task force heard all the prospective entrants, they chose to “come to Cody and visit Gillette next month,” explains Klessens. The task force will explore the respective sites as well as visit the towns and make their final decision in August.
With the National Rifle Association sanctioning over 11,000 shooting tournaments and sponsoring 50 national shooting championships every year, Klessens says the impact to not only Park County and the state would be massive with the amount of people who travel to compete and watch these events.
Klessens says it’s “the best experience I’ve had in my 37-year career,” being a part of putting the proposal together because of the way the community has responded. “People who are usually at odds with each other have set aside their differences,” to get this done, Klessens added confidently.
Initially the state has set aside $10M to be used to build the shooting complex, Klessens detailed, but what the task force is looking for is viability and sustainability in the shooting complex. It shouldn’t be a drain on the town where it’s located nor the state.
Klessens says he thinks the complex could host a large number of not only firearm shooting competitions, but also archery and other competitions as well.
