Decision nears on holding shooting event in Illinois
01/07/2004
Trapshooters will vote
on Sparta plan this month
By Shera Dalin
Of the Post-Dispatch
A decision could come by the end of the month on whether one of the nation's largest trapshooting competitions and headquarters will move to the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, Ill.
Officials with the Amateur Trapshooting Association outside Dayton, Ohio, are expected to present a proposal from Illinois this month to the membership for a vote. Las Vegas has also proposed to host the association's headquarters and Grand American competition, the largest shooting event in the world with more than 6,000 competitors over a 10-day contest.
"I feel real good about how the negotiations have been going," state Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville, said Tuesday. "We have asked them to make a decision this month. We would like to have something before the governor gives his budget address in February."
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has been negotiating with the association to bring the Grand American and the group's headquarters to Sparta. The $30 million complex is being built on nearly 1,200 acres 50 miles southeast of St. Louis.
The complex will have about 120 trap stations over a 3.5-mile course, skeet stations, sporting clays, a pistol range and a 3-D archery range. It will offer hiking, 1,000 camper hookups, ATV trails and fishing.
The state will also build a large meeting hall and parking for major motor home and camping rallies, car shows and conventions. Several shooting groups have already committed to holding events at the complex, including the National Sporting Clays Association, the National Skeet Shooting Association and the Single Action Shooters Society.
Reitz said the Amateur Trapshooting Association has eliminated Shelbyville, Ind., from the competition for the Grand American, leaving only Sparta and Las Vegas.
"We're a couple of years ahead of Las Vegas because we've been working on it longer," Reitz said. "We'll have this facility ready by the time they need it in August 2006."
While Reitz said the state would be happy to become the new headquarters for the association, the Grand American is the real prize it is seeking. The competition is estimated to have $10 million in economic impact.
Cochran & Wilken Inc. of Springfield, Ill., is expected to have a master plan for the shooting complex completed later this month. Knight Infrastructure of Chicago, the construction manager, could begin building as early as fall, according to the natural resources agency.
Reporter Shera Dalin
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 618-235-0260
01/07/2004
Trapshooters will vote
on Sparta plan this month
By Shera Dalin
Of the Post-Dispatch
A decision could come by the end of the month on whether one of the nation's largest trapshooting competitions and headquarters will move to the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, Ill.
Officials with the Amateur Trapshooting Association outside Dayton, Ohio, are expected to present a proposal from Illinois this month to the membership for a vote. Las Vegas has also proposed to host the association's headquarters and Grand American competition, the largest shooting event in the world with more than 6,000 competitors over a 10-day contest.
"I feel real good about how the negotiations have been going," state Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville, said Tuesday. "We have asked them to make a decision this month. We would like to have something before the governor gives his budget address in February."
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has been negotiating with the association to bring the Grand American and the group's headquarters to Sparta. The $30 million complex is being built on nearly 1,200 acres 50 miles southeast of St. Louis.
The complex will have about 120 trap stations over a 3.5-mile course, skeet stations, sporting clays, a pistol range and a 3-D archery range. It will offer hiking, 1,000 camper hookups, ATV trails and fishing.
The state will also build a large meeting hall and parking for major motor home and camping rallies, car shows and conventions. Several shooting groups have already committed to holding events at the complex, including the National Sporting Clays Association, the National Skeet Shooting Association and the Single Action Shooters Society.
Reitz said the Amateur Trapshooting Association has eliminated Shelbyville, Ind., from the competition for the Grand American, leaving only Sparta and Las Vegas.
"We're a couple of years ahead of Las Vegas because we've been working on it longer," Reitz said. "We'll have this facility ready by the time they need it in August 2006."
While Reitz said the state would be happy to become the new headquarters for the association, the Grand American is the real prize it is seeking. The competition is estimated to have $10 million in economic impact.
Cochran & Wilken Inc. of Springfield, Ill., is expected to have a master plan for the shooting complex completed later this month. Knight Infrastructure of Chicago, the construction manager, could begin building as early as fall, according to the natural resources agency.
Reporter Shera Dalin
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 618-235-0260
