Lyon County’s new law enforcement firing range is into construction after the last procedural steps taken by Lyon County commissioners earlier this month.
On Dec. 18, commissioners approved a zoning change for the so-called Kretsinger tract at 2985 West South, adjusting the zoning from Heavy Industrial to Civic/Public. Lyon County Sheriff Jeff Cope says the construction team had been working for a couple weeks before that, but that was for initial work on the new Emergency Dispatch center and related parking lot. Early work is now underway on the firing range.
The new outdoor range will be south of the Lyon County Transfer Station and Recycling Center. Cope says it will offer better features and training benefits versus the current range just southwest of the Transfer Station.
Cope stresses there has been need for a “professional range” for a long time.
Cope estimates the total cost for the range at around $1.5 million, including the facility itself, storage space, a training area and needed dirt work — all to be paid for by using the multi-year capital outlay funds and Lyon County sales tax revenues. There is a $500,000 price tag for building prep involving both the range and the new 9-1-1 center. The targeting system equipment has a $150,000 federal grant as announced by US Senator Jerry Moran in September 2024. One of the concerns has been the time frame. The range needs to be built by May or else the grant money has to be refunded. Cope says the facility should be ready by the deadline, even with several procedural delays earlier this year as county commissioners needed to get information about funding and project overlaps with the 9-1-1 center, which is tentatively set to be ready by spring 2027 at a potential cost around $2 million, pending bid approvals next month.
Cope says the original plan of building the new range at the Highway Department headquarters site along Prairie Street could have cost upwards of $750,000 just for the dirt work needed to get the building out of the Cottonwood River floodplain.
