ALTUS – A consulting firm has been hired by the council at a recent meeting to conduct an environmental assessment on Altus’ planned Bitter Creek Shooting Sports Complex.
The assessment must be completed because of federal funding that was received by the city for the planning phase of the shooting complex. The $200,250 planning phase grant is administered by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife.
The council approved Enercon Services Inc. as the company that will handle the environmental assessment. Enercon Services was the low bidder and most qualified to handle the work, a city document shows.
“They will check for contamination and anything else that needs to be cleaned up,” Altus City Manager Gary Jones said.
Altus has partnered with Western Oklahoma State College to build a world-class facility that will provide recreational and competitive shooting. The complex will be open to the public, but specifically for WOSC’s shooting team members and area high school teams. Altus acquired 156 acres four miles north and two miles west of town through a land swap with a private property owner. The city paid the difference between the value of its land and the value of the land purchased for the range project, Jones said.
City officials said the site provides easy access from any location and is located off Highway 283 and County Road E1580.
Preliminary plans for the complex will be completed after the environmental assessment is submitted, Jones said. The city will also apply for another grant to fund the shooting complex construction.
Chad Wiginton, president at WOSC, said the popularity of shooting sports was critical in the development of the range idea.
“Altus has won six state championships. The FFA is dominant in this area and then we have Jackson County 4-H,” he said.
Wiginton said area high school student shooting teams had been traveling to other counties to compete and practice. “We hope to retain these students and attract from other areas of the state,” he said.
Jones and Wiginton said in previous interviews they envision the shooting range as an economic driver that will draw people into Altus for skeet and trap competitions.
“There’s hotels, restaurants and other businesses that will benefit from this type of activity,” Wiginton said. “We also want this facility to be something the Air Force can be proud of and that the men and women and members of their families will use.”
The range will likely include five stands for trap shooting, five for skeet shooting and one combination stand for trap and skeet. The facility will also include a long-range rifle station and eventually have a spot for sporting clays.