Possible city archery range

NEW LONDON – The city of New London will research what grants are available if the city were to pursue creating an archery range on city property located at 740 River Road.
The New London Parks and Recreation Committee discussed the possibility of creating an archery range on that property when it met Jan. 7. Committee members liked the idea, and asked that research on available grants be done. Once the research is completed, the information should be brought back to the committee at a future meeting.
Ginger Sowle, director of Parks & Recreation for the city of New London, told the committee that there have been internal discussions about the property, which is located by the dog park. The property is stewardship property, which means it needs to be used for outdoor recreation.
“It was purchased to be used as park land,” said Sowle.
The property has been used as a refuse site for past construction projects.

“We no longer allow this to be done, but it’s created quite a mess,” Sowle said. “That will be brought up at a Public Works Committee meeting in the future.”
Sowle said there have been requests for the city to consider an archery range on the property. She said there are communities who have archery ranges on municipal property, and she contacted them to obtain more information.

Preliminary plans
Luke Hammons, New London Parks/Street superintendent, presented the committee with preliminary plans as to what an archery range at 740 River Road could look like. Prior to presenting the preliminary plan, Hammons said he also contacted communities who have archery ranges.
“It would look somewhat similar to what Shiocton currently has,” said Hammons.

The area behind the targets would be an earth and berm. This would require minimal cost because the city has most of the material already available to create that safety feature.
“The majority of the work could be done inhouse fairly simple, it’s mostly flat work,” said Hammons.
Hammons said there would be five targets on the range. Driveways would need to be created around the archery range. The archery range would be open from dawn to dusk.

Rules
Sowle said there are a number of rules that typically apply to an archery range. For example, Sowle said anyone under 16 years of age would need to be accompanied by an adult.

Only field point arrows could be used, no broadheads. No firearms would be allowed on site.

Discussion
Sowle said she contacted the local Boy Scout group, and they said this would be a great Eagle Scout project. They did not indicate if they had a scout looking for an Eagle Scout project.
Hammons said there are grants available for the city to pursue.
Ald. Robert Besaw asked if the archery range would be supervised. Sowle said there would not be supervision on site.

Besaw asked how far apart the targets would be. Hammons said it varies depending on who is shooting, because the targets can be moved.
“You can fit up to two archers per target,” said Hammons.
Ald. John Hass suggested using dirt fill from the property to create side walls around the archery range. This would prevent someone from accidently walking through the range.
Hass added that he thinks the archery range would be “well used” if the city created it.
Committee member Robert Perzentka said the community could use an archery range. He said he has seen kids shooting archery in the backyard next to where he lives.
“There’s nowhere for them to shoot,” Perzentka said. “We own land in the city. We can set up targets safely, but other people that want to get their kids outside, away from the video games, who want to go do something with them, maybe they don’t have access to facilities to do that, except for maybe once or twice a year. I think this would be a great thing for the community, and it’s cheap to do.”
Besaw agreed that members of the community are shooting bows in backyards because the targets can be seen in the yards.
Ald. Tim Roberts asked about the history of the property. Sowle said the property was purchased with stewardship funds through the DNR for the purpose of having outdoor recreation.
“The previous public works director saw the vacant land, and said, ‘Oh, I can dump concrete here,’ so it’s been a concrete dump, asphalt dump,” Sowle said. “They stopped dumping there, I would say, in the early 2000s.”
The site is also used to dump snow in the winter.