Ground is slated to be broken Oct. 25 on a county-wide gun range. The Hamilton County Regional Safety Complex, which will be home to a shared Cincinnati Police and Hamilton County Sheriff's Office gun range, is being built in Colerain Township on East Miami River Road.
The $31.6 million project replaces the existing gun range in Evendale near Lincoln Heights and Woodlawn. It will be available for other municipal law enforcement agency use. The county administrator says the new range should be completed around the second quarter of 2026.
"This is monumental as it relates to a community and a neighborhood and what we're doing and the health factors that have gone on because of that gun range," says Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas, who served four years as the village manager of Lincoln Heights.
"I, too, view this as a historic occasion for the county commission. We've been working on this for years, trying to move this gun range out of Lincoln Heights," says Commission Vice President Denise Driehaus, who also credits Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney for championing the issue for the city.
"I want to move on the fast track," adds Commission President Alicia Reece. "We've waited long enough. Seventy years, I think, is a pretty patient community to be moving forward."
Cincinnati began using the site in the 1940s, when Evendale donated the land to the city for the gun range. Nearby residents in Evendale, Woodlawn and Lincoln Heights have complained for decades about noise, and psychological and environmental harm.
"I want the thing gone ASAP," said Jeannie Stinson during a 2020 Cincinnati Council hearing when she was the vice mayor of Lincoln Heights. "I want the gun range gone. Bottom line: it's awful for my families that's in my community, the people that come to
work are afraid to come to work, and I simply want it gone."
RELATED: 'I Want It Gone': People Speak Out On CPD Gun Range In Evendale
Hamilton County is carrying the bulk of the price, contributing $10 million from the county's General Fund and $10,350,000 in American Rescue Plan dollars. The city of Cincinnati is contributing $4,250,000; the state is contributing $3 million; and the federal government is contributing $4 million.
Summerow Dumas says she's disappointed and upset that Evendale didn't contribute any money to the relocation project, though it is listed as a partner on the project. She notes the community has plans to redevelop the site to its benefit.
"I really have a problem with them not contributing any money when I know they have it, and I know they're going to benefit financially from that area closing," she says.
The groundbreaking is set for 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25.
