Hamilton County Partners with Communities to Move Gun Range

The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners has allocated $15 million for the Regional Safety Complex project which involves the relocation of the Cincinnati Police Department’s (CPD) firing range from its current location on Spartan Drive in Evendale, Ohio.

Built in 1947, CPD's current firing range is located adjacent to single family homes and apartments in Lincoln Heights and Woodlawn with over 2,300 residents living within a half mile.

The sound of gunfire from the outdoor firing range can be heard day and night, Monday through Saturday, regularly impacting the surrounding population – most notably the youth of the community. Noise from the firing range reaches homes, churches, childcare facilities and schools in a community already plagued with poverty and rates of violent crime far exceeding national averages.

Hamilton County, the City of Cincinnati, Lincoln Heights, Woodlawn, Evendale, and a host of community partners have been working on a strategy to relocate this firing range to a rural area of the County in coordination with the Hamilton County Sheriff. 

This move would not only solve a pervasive issue of environmental and social justice, but would forge a new cooperative relationship between the Sheriff and the Cincinnati Police Department while clearing the way for a multi-agency shared service opportunity in a modern training facility.

It will also enable the economic redevelopment of property in one of the County’s highest priority development corridors which focuses on aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing. 

Currently in the design phase, the cost for construction of the facility is anticipated to be $32 million. Hamilton County has committed $15 million toward this project, City of Cincinnati has committed $2 million, and the federal government has allocated $4 million. The County and its partners are exploring additional funding options to close the gap on the capital construction of the new facility.   Learn more about the project and check out the renderings here.