O’FALLON — A new law enforcement gun range could soon be coming to O’Fallon’s northside — and some neighbors are concerned about gunfire, noise and expense.
City officials say the proposed 20-lane, 200-yard indoor firing range is needed for an expanding department. When the recently decommissioned range opened in the 1960s, the O’Fallon department had about 30 officers. Today, it has 121.
“We’ve essentially outgrown it,†said Chris Clercx, O’Fallon’s capital improvement projects manager.
He said the price tag for the new range might not be known until early next year. “We are still working through different things on that,†Clercx said Wednesday. “I do not have that number right now.â€
O’Fallon Mayor Bill Hennessy and Ward 1 Councilmembers Deana Smith and Ron Epps did not respond to requests for information about the project. Smith and Epps are co-sponsoring the ordinance approving the range.
People are also reading…
The new gun range would be the first phase in a much larger proposed O’Fallon Law Enforcement Training Center, which would also be used by St. Charles City police. Plans include a 22,500-square-foot classroom training center, a 2,100-square-foot outdoor pavilion, a SWAT training facility, a simulations shooting training location, a K9 training course, kennels, a vehicle driving course, a drone pilot training course, and a stormwater retention pond that would double as a water rescue training pond.
The gun range and proposed center would be built in the city’s first ward on 67 acres owned by the city along Highway 79, near Firma Road. O’Fallon’s planning and zoning commission backed a portion of the proposal, for the gun range, earlier this month. The city council is expected to vote on it in January.
But neighbors have expressed concern about the location, hours and cost of the range, and worry the facility could create problems with stormwater drainage.
Tim Wilmes, who owns a home less than 100 yards from the proposed site, worries about the sound of gunfire.
“This impacts us dramatically,†Wilmes said. “If this firing range goes in like it is proposed, then nobody is going to want to live in that home.â€
The O’Fallon Police Department first proposed the facility in June 2022. Officials think it could become a training ground for police officers and other first responders from across the region, for a fee.
“When we see stories of officers making professional and tactically sound decisions it is the result of the good, consistent training that they’ve experienced,†said Sgt. Bryan Harr, spokesperson for the O’Fallon Police Department.
“Having a facility like this in our region makes us all better agencies, and that truly benefits not only the citizens of O’Fallon but also the citizens throughout the region,†Harr said.
But plans for the new training facility have come under scrutiny from neighbors and city officials in recent weeks.
Resident Arnie Dienoff argues O’Fallon can use existing gun ranges in St. Charles County. These sites, he said, are used by law enforcement agencies ranging, including county police and other municipal police departments in St. Charles County.
“Yet, that’s not good enough for the city of O’Fallon,†Dienoff told the city council at a recent meeting. “You guys need to live like country club folk.â€
O’Fallon spokesperson Tony Michalka said there are key differences between the gun ranges at the Busch Wildlife Area, which is public, and the St. Charles County Law Enforcement range, which has a maximum shooting distance of 50 yards.
O’Fallon’s proposed range has a 200-yard capacity, so the department can train for incidents in places like office or school buildings, which have longer hallways, Michalka said last week.
City officials acknowledged that sound-proofing technologies will not contain all of the sound. “That sound does travel,†Clercx told the planning and zoning commission this month. “There’s not 100% noise containment in something like this.â€
Still, Assistant Police Chief Derek Myers said the “vast majority†of the shooting will occur in the gun range’s main building, where the sound proofing will be concentrated. “I can tell you that here, regionally, no other city will have this level of sound mitigation efforts,†he said.
Planning and zoning members also worried that the property is partially in the Mississippi River’s flood plain.
But officials said all buildings will be constructed two feet above flood plain levels.
“We’ve seen that property go underwater a few times,†Clercx said. “We’ve already talked to the [U.S. Army] Corps of Engineers, so we have covered our bases with all of that.â€
The first phase of the project, tentatively slated for 2024, will include the gun range and pavilion, which will be used to host training sessions of up to 65 police officers at a time.
The second phase includes the simulations shooting training facility, the emergency vehicle obstacle driving course, the drone pilot training course, the SWAT training facility and the main classroom building.
Editor's note: This article has been edited to correct the spelling of Arnie Dienoff's name.