Tranquility Wildlife Area Shooting Range scheduled for renovation and reopening

By Tom Cross-

Big investment in shooting ranges are coming to Adams and Brown Counties. The State Controlling Board has approved $575,000 for improvements at the Tranquility Gun Range in the Tranquility Wildlife Area in Adams County. Total cost for the complete renovation at Tranquility comes in at $2,300,000 with 75 percent of the funding coming from a grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the other 25 percent is the state match of $575,000.
In 2001-2002 Tranquility received a much needed complete overhaul and was a gem of a shooting range at that time. Later, as a scouts project, a roof was added over the shooting benches, however the old range, originally constructed by the National Guard, has been showing its age and lack of maintenance. Years later in 2016 the range was closed due to safety concerns, erosion, and water seepage at the backstop. There was some question if it would ever be opened again.
Recently the range underwent a site assessment and geotechnical survey. New plans now call for the range to be updated with proper grading and drainage, a reconstructed backstop, and new shooting lanes to accommodate increasing numbers of shooters in southwest Ohio.
“The Division of Wildlife is excited to provide even more excellent opportunities for Ohio sporting enthusiasts,” said DOW Chief Kendra Wecker. “This project boosts our goal to encourage outdoor sports among Ohioans of all ages and experience levels.”
According to Eric Postell, Program Administrator for the Division of Wildlife, lead removal, and reworking the road and parking lot are part of the plans. The range will be redesigned to accommodate as many shooters as safely possible, new signage and new shooting benches are on tap, basically a totally new gun range once construction is completed.
The range will stay at its original location on Township Rd. T-96D (Wildlife Rd.), and will remain a Class B Gun Range, which is an unsupervised range. Cleanup and removal of the old lead from the ground will be a significant part of the cost to overhaul the range.
The range will first undergo a design phase and then hopefully by late summer 2020 it will be put out for construction bids. Postell expects renovation to the Tranquility Range to take over a year but is hopeful that by 2023 the Tranquility WLA gun range will again reopen.
In Brown County, ODNR and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are spending 1.3 million on a new small-bore pistol range in the Indian Creek Wildlife Area near Fayetteville. Again, 75 percent of that funding is coming from U.S. Fish & Wildlife, 25 percent or $325,000 is coming from a state match. Plans call for repurposing the old trap range at the wildlife area into a small-bore pistol range.