Eagle Creek Pistol Range closes to public after 35 years amid contract dispute

The city of Indianapolis is shutting the Eagle Creek Pistol Range to the public, likely for good, after abruptly terminating the contract of the range’s private operator earlier this month.

A number of issues remain to be sorted out — chiefly how to satisfy federal requirements that led to the range’s public opening in the first place — but the closure likely represents the end of an era. The range, which will continue to be used by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department for training exercises, had been open to the public part time for the past 35 years.

But due to dwindling attendance and financial constraints, officials with the Parks and Recreation Department said this week they have no intention of reopening it. The pistol range is typically open on weekends from March to December.

“It’s strictly an economic decision,” said Linda Broadfoot, director of Parks and Rec. “We have seen usage go down dramatically over the past few years, and I couldn’t tell you why that is.”

Meanwhile, Guy Relford, the park’s private operator since 2011, is criticizing the city for its handling of the matter, saying that despite declining revenues, he had every intention of keeping the facility open through the end of his current contract in March 2017.

Now, the city will have to find a suitable outdoor public amenity to replace the gun range in order to comply with federal park grant restrictions that date as far back as the 1960s — restrictions that the city had already been violating for years.

'We have to have this fixed'

Built as a police training facility on the outskirts of Eagle Creek Park, the firing range wasn’t initially designed for public recreation, according to Indianapolis Star archives.

But in 1978 – after warning the city for “five or six years” that the range violated federal law – the state Department of Natural Resources gave the city an ultimatum: open the range to the public or lose all federal parks funding in the future.

The problem was that Eagle Creek Park had been built with the help of federal grant dollars – roughly $1.7 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. And under federal law, “no property acquired or developed with assistance” from that fund can be used for anything other than outdoor public recreation.

Even something as small as a federally funded picnic shelter is enough to provide “hundreds or even thousands of acres” with federal park protection for eternity, according to National Park Service guidelines.

The city’s initial plan was to close the facility entirely. But in 1981, it reached a deal that would keep the police at the range, as long as the public could use it half the time. The initial plan was to open the range on weekends and nights, according to newspaper archives, and the National Parks Service gave the city another $50,000 to upgrade the facility and build a picnic area.

But the current schedule – weekends only, 10 months a year – fell well short of the agreement’s initial goal. And in recent years, Broadfoot said, the state, in its role as administrator of the federal grant program, had once again put the city on notice: “We have to have this fixed,” Broadfoot said.

Dwindling attendance

The abrupt closure, in the first months of Democrat Mayor Joe Hogsett's administration, raised eyebrows.

But Broadfoot said the closure had nothing to do with it being a gun range. And the contract dispute had nothing to do with the federal grant issues, either.

The city and Relford, owner of Tactical Firearms LLC, give differing accounts of how it went down and who was at fault, but they agree on a few things:

Relford asked for some financial help to offset the costs of an insurance policy required by the city.

And a recent proliferation of private gun ranges caused attendance to plummet in recent years. According to figures provided by the city, when Relford took over from the city in 2012, 5,150 people visited the range. In 2015, the range had just 793 visitors.

“I’m disappointed, because the range has been there a long, long time,” Relford said. “And, yes, revenues were down, but we had hundreds and hundreds of people going through there that had been going there a long time.”

Relford said he asked the city to help with the costs of insurance, because other ranges require lower liability thresholds. After that, he said, the city sent him a letter voiding the contract.

“I wasn’t saying we’re going to shut the place down if you don’t go along with it,” Relford said.

City officials insist they tried to work with him to keep the facility open under the existing contract, without additional public subsidy, but that he wasn't forthcoming with required documents. He disputes the allegation.

Said Broadfoot, “this just wasn’t something that we could afford right now.”

Future park land?

Now, the city is turning its attention to meeting federal guidelines moving forward.

Converting the site to another park amenity isn't on the table. The City-County Council last year budgeted $1.1 million for repairs to the range, a move that would keep IMPD there for the foreseeable future.

That leaves the city with only one other option: convert other land around the city into outdoor park space to replace it.

Parks officials have identified a number of parcels around the city currently owned by the nonprofit Indianapolis Parks Foundation that could be used for new parks.

But meeting the federal rules may be easier said than done. The replacement land has to be of equal value to the firing range, and because of nearby Intech business park, the range’s assessed value came in higher than expected – upwards of $3.1 million.

The foundation land came in at around $1.1 million, but officials are optimistic they can bridge the gap through reassessments and ongoing negotiations with the state.

“We’re not concerned we’re going to have any trouble,” Broadfoot said.

Call IndyStar reporter Brian Eason at (317) 444-6129. Follow him on Twitter: @brianeason.