Residents, coaches urge Springville to restore indoor shooting range after closure

Several parents, coaches and junior competitors told the Springville City Council on Monday that the city’s closure of its indoor shooting range more than a year ago has jeopardized a decades-old youth program that produced national and Olympic-caliber athletes.

"My kids all went through and shot with the club," said Shane Nielsen, a volunteer coach, describing a program that seeded college scholarships and state and national competitors. Nielsen told the council the range closed at the end of the 2023–24 season and said the club needs only a modest indoor footprint — roughly 20 by 40 feet — to resume air-rifle practice and competitions.

Why it matters: Speakers said the range provided mentoring, safe training and a pathway to college scholarships. Several young athletes and alumni described lost opportunities — including missed regional and Junior Olympic qualifying events — and urged the council to help identify temporary or permanent indoor sites.

"It cut off a path for young athletes like me to train, compete, and grow," said Kempton Nord, a junior precision rifle competitor who said the closure prevented him from competing in the 2025 Junior Olympic air rifle nationals despite qualifying scores.

A nonresident volunteer with range management experience, Josh Sensinger, urged the city to scrutinize a cleanup-cost figure cited from a third party (referred to in the meeting as "Utah Trust") and to treat exposure numbers as a time-weighted metric for limited-use sports ranges rather than continuous-occupancy values.

Council response and next steps: An unnamed councilmember apologized for the communication gap and said the council wants to preserve the program. Council members asked that Recreation staff (identified in the meeting as Stacy) convene a small committee or task force with two or three community members to explore available spaces and interim solutions. The mayor asked the club to provide contact information and for the volunteer coaches to follow up by email.

What the speakers asked for: temporary classroom or gym space for air-rifle matches, help securing basic equipment and a realistic review of health-exposure assumptions for low-velocity air pellets.

What the council did: No formal vote was taken on the issue. Council members instructed staff to pursue options and to report back; they also invited residents to reconvene with staff and council representatives to develop a short-term plan while longer-term cleanup or facility decisions proceed.

The meeting moved on after public comment; no funding commitment was made on the record.