EAST WINDSOR–State Police have officially abandoned a plan to build a firearms training facility in the towns of East Windsor and Willington after serious pushback.
The towns were two were part of a list of 20 possible sites being considered to move the facility to from Simsbury, but both were seriously opposed.
Lt. Governor Wyman said in a statement about the decision to forgo East Windsor and Willington, “Our current training range is in bad shape, so it’s important to be proactive about siting a new facility. In doing so, we also have to balance any concerns the community brings forward, and ensure that the state continues to be a good neighbor in our communities. Every day our State Troopers are out there serving us, they must have the tools and skills they need to both protect the public and come home to their families at the end of the day.”
The Simsbury location is in a flood zone, and has cost the nearly $400,000 in damages.
“The proximity of the Farmington River and and its continual encroachment on the range has created conditions that make its continued use impractical,” said Sgt. Todd Harmon last year.
State Police have been using the Simsbury location since the early 1960s and also say a more modern facility is needed to meet more modern threats such, as active shooters.
The plan for a new facility calls for a state-of-the-art, 55,000-square-foot facility with several gun ranges, parking spots, classrooms and storage. The range would be used primarily by State Police, but would also be made available to other federal, state and local agencies when necessary.
Hundreds have turned out to meetings in Willington in the past year to protest the proposal, as well as in East Windsor. Neighbors are worried primarily about the noise from such a facility, but also other impacts it may have such as depreciating property value.
“The gunshots that will be going off, it’ll just ruin the production of the egg production of our chickens, the milk production of our goats, and basically just ruin our whole business,” said Thomas Fox, a Willington business owner, at one meeting.
State Sen. Tony Guglielmo, the ranking member of the Senate Public Safety and Security Committee, said, “I appreciate the lieutenant governor’s and the state’s willingness to balance public safety with the needs of the community. I know the State Police always strive to be good neighbors.”
The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection is now looking into other properties that were volunteered during community meetings held over the past month by DESPP and the Department of Administrative Services. Those towns include Canterbury, Voluntown, Griswold, Hampton, and Sprague.
DAS is the agency leading the project to find a location and build a new facility.
