The Spurwink Rod & Gun Club continues to make headway on several safety upgrades to its 61-year-old shooting range and is on track to reopen its 25-yard target area by December.
At least that’s the plan.
Last week’s Cape Elizabeth Town Council meeting – during which the council unanimously approved a conditional operating license for the club – was a proud moment for club president Tammy Walter and her members.
Walter said she is “thrilled” with the council’s decision to grant the long-awaited license.
“We sincerely appreciate the hard work, leadership and fairness of the Town Council,” she said. “This has been a long road.”
Walter said the club is about $7,000 short of its fundraising goal for improving its 25-yard shooting range. Until the club can make the necessary safety upgrades to its 25-yard target area, recommended by a town-hired gun safety expert this summer, live fire will remain suspended on the property.
The town’s code enforcement officer must also inspect the 25-yard range to ensure that the club has achieved 100-percent shot containment before shooting activities can resume, according to councilors.
Cape Elizabeth police Chief Neil Williams ordered suspension of live fire on the shooting range in July after a gun safety expert from Georgia found several safety and security deficiencies on the range while inspecting the property. The safety report was completed as part of an annual licensing process that is required under a shooting range ordinance adopted by the council in March 2014.
To address ongoing noise and safety concerns by neighbors, which prompted the town to enact its first shooting range ordinance, the club has been working to erect overhead baffles along the length of the range that prevent bullets from exiting the range, among other improvements.
According to Walter, the club is about 75 percent complete with $25,000 in upgrades to its 25-yard range. The 50- and 100-yard ranges will remain closed for about two years, or until additional safety improvements, which can also demonstrate 100 percent shot containment, are complete, Walter said.
Upgrades to each target area are estimated to cost about $45,000, she said. A new shooting shed, which the club plans to eventually build to reduce noise coming from the range, will cost another $45,000.
Her hope, she said, “is that the neighbors find peace in the Town Council’s decision” to grant the club a license.
She also wanted to thank the public, as well as her fellow members, for their outpouring of support during this challenging time for the club.
“They have stuck by us and worked hard to build something we can be proud of,” she said.
Volunteers work on erecting a ‘No Blue Sky’ baffle system on the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club’s 25-yard shooting range last weekend. Courtesy photos
Dr. Judy Shedd and Mark Mayone weld steel baffles.Courtesy photos
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