'Guntry club' breaks ground

MILAN TWP. — They pulled the trigger on constructing a $14 million state-of-the-art shooting facility. Monday marked a new and important phase for Lake Erie Arms building a "guntry club." Officials, supporters and dignitaries broke ground at a site on Milan Road (U.S. 250) near Kalahari Resorts between Scheid and Huron-Avery roads. Many people involved with the project spoke about its importance. "Lake Erie Arms is set to be another world-class sporting facility in the shores and islands (region) with equally impressive economic impact, driving visitors, job creation, investment and amenities to support our quality of life," said Abbey Bemis, executive director of the Erie County Economic Development Corp. First introduced in 2018, the project faced numerous delays. But Monday's groundbreaking ensures construction can finally begin and should take somewhere between one full year and 14 months before opening. This puts the project on track for a mid-2023 unveiling. "Projects of this scale always have a lot of moving parts. Adding a pandemic and many economic ups and downs can create many more," Bemis said. "We're glad the owners and community leaders stayed committed to the vision." Targeting the features Brent McConnell, the president of Lake Erie Arms, located on Cleveland Road East in Berlin Township, provided some additional details about this facility: • Financing — Totaling $14.3 million, "The bulk of the financing is in the form of a 504 Small Business Administration loan. The financing is through First National Bank in conjunction with Growth Capital, (which) handles the Small Business Administration portion of the loan." That's up from the original plans of $12 million. • Amenities — People can expect shooting ranges, differing in size from 25 yards to 100 yards, "and the fourth indoor clay house in the U.S." The facility will also house classrooms, VIP lounges, a restaurant along with space for events and retail operations. • Size — The facility should total about 90,000 square feet. That's down from the original plans of 194,000 square feet. • Jobs — McConnell expects to hire about 100 people, split evenly between full-time and part-time workers. • Expertise: "Lake Erie Arms is a training and education facility with other amenities. My training staff has over 300 years of law enforcement experience, including retired FBI agents, a retired chief of police and numerous other retired law enforcement officers. We understand the importance of teaching safety and responsibility to the citizens in our community. We also train local law enforcement departments and officers to help them be better prepared to face the challenges of their grueling jobs."