[url]http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/Dec-17-Tue-2002/news/20291227.html[/url]

Shooting facility's backers turn out

Public-private financing discussed

By FRANK GEARY
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Setting aside federal land worth nearly $230 million was tough enough, but Clark County officials now must find millions more if they are to turn 2,800 acres of dirt into a world-class shooting facility for the public.

They need $20 million to $30 million to build a first-rate complex, and either public-private financing, a revenue bond or a combination may be needed to get the long-awaited project off the ground.

"I believe the county will have to participate (with a revenue bond) in the early years, but when we are self-sufficient we can pay it back," said Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, a member of the county's Shooting Park Advisory Task Force. "We are just learning what we can do with this."

Elected officials and gun enthusiasts withstood Monday's chilly winds to show off the land and discuss plans for the development of the shooting complex for residents, tourists and police officers.

The Clark County Sport Shooting Park is expected to be the largest of its kind in the country. Plans call for it to include facilities for field and 3-D archery, air guns, small-bore rifles and pistols, centerfire pistols, centerfire rifles, and shotguns, including trap, skeet and sporting clays.

County commissioners, Las Vegas City Council members and others applauded the state's congressional delegation for getting legislation passed to turn over land in the northwest Las Vegas Valley that developers had wanted for housing. President Bush is expected to sign the bill this week.

They said it wasn't an easy task in the nation's fastest-growing community and at a time when housing prices are climbing in response to a shortage of available land.

"We're not going to build homes or shopping centers. We are going to build a world-class shooting facility," U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., told about 50 people gathered outdoors at Floyd Lamb State Park, which lies just south of the shooting range site. "This is going to be a great facility, but having the land is not enough."

The county's Shooting Park Advisory Committee already is trying to line up funding for construction.

The design will be developed by the county after recommendations are submitted by the park's 31-member advisory committee. The panel will provide input from user groups on the design and phasing of the various elements of the park.

The expense comes at a time when the state is saddled with a $370 million deficit and when the county is channeling park construction revenue to solve other challenges, such as a $38 million deficit at University Medical Center and cost overruns in construction of the $170 million Regional Justice Center.

Lee, chairman of the advisory committee's finance subcommittee, said the shooting complex probably will be built in phases over time.

Possibilities for raising money include private investment, federal funding and a revenue bond that could be paid back from fees collected from shooting-park patrons.

Lee said the committee wants to charge about $4 per day per family. Local residents will continue shooting near the Apex Industrial Park and in other unauthorized, desert areas if they can't afford to use the shooting park, he said.

Revenue bonds are issued by governments with the understanding that the long-term financing will be paid for using revenue generated by the new facilities. Revenue bonds have been issued to build water facilities and the Strip monorail project.

The finance subcommittee has held only one meeting, at which a representative of the Nevada Development Authority offered to help attract private-sector investors to the shooting complex.

Lee said he plans to talk this week with a representative of the American Trap Shooting Association, an Ohio-based national organization with roughly 100,000 members, about relocating to the shooting park.

The association is on the verge of losing the land its national headquarters sits on and is prepared to spend $12 million to build a new facility, Lee said.

"There are people looking for places that are suitable for this type of activity," he said. "There is nowhere else in the United States that is actively trying to become the shooting mecca of the United States."

2800 acres....it's gonna be FREAKIN' HUGE!

And two Democrats are pushing for this?  No wonder Vegas kicks ass.  I'll be there for New Year's this year!

They are planning to rent out guns like this...

[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=2312[/img]

That's why it's SO expensive! [;)]

What do you mean? Doesn't EVERYONE have 1911's like that[;)]? Maybe it's a Vegas thing.  [@:D]