Work soon to begin at site of new Cincinnati police gun range in Colerain Township
Work will soon begin at the site of the new regional safety complex in Colerain Township that will house a Cincinnati police gun range. It will replace the department's current facility on the border of Lincoln Heights and Evendale, city officials said.
Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney gave a brief update on the new facility during a meeting of city council's public safety and governance committee Tuesday morning.
A groundbreaking in Colerain Township is about a month away, Kearney said.
Hamilton County commissioners unveiled detailed renderings last week for a large police training complex in a rural area of Colerain Township where the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office has its gun range.
Under the plan, the complex would be a combined gun range and training center for both the Cincinnati Police Department and Hamilton County Sheriff, a combined force of over 1,900 officers. It could also be used by other law enforcement agencies in the county and possibly serve as an Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy site.
Residents of Lincoln Heights have pushed to have the gun range at the village's border closed for decades. As the population grew since the range's opening in 1947, so did the concerns over the psychological effects of the constant sound of gunfire.
Kearney said the current Cincinnati police facility, which is also used by two dozen other law enforcement agencies, may be shuttered in phases, though the priority is to relocate the gun range.
While county officials have previously cited a price tag of $27 million to $42 million for the regional safety complex in Colerain, Kearney said recent cost estimates now put that number at $30 million to $35 million.
So far, $21 million from the county, city of Cincinnati and the federal government has been pledged to the project.
"We are really close to having what we need," Kearney said.
The vice mayor credited a bipartisan collaboration of local, state and national leaders as being the driving force behind the gun range's relocation − an issue that's been ongoing for the past three decades.
"For 30 years, this has been (an) environmental and health problem for the residents of Lincoln Heights, Evendale (and) Woodlawn. And for 30 years nothing's been done," Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said. "We are as close as we've ever been to moving this site."
Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto is slated to give an in-depth update to city council's public safety and governance committee at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Work soon to begin at site of new Cincinnati police gun range
