Even after a pandemic outbreak last year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Cameo Shooting and Education Complex continues to exceed expectations as it grows into a world-class facility.
It's also about even bigger things in terms of its offerings and facilities and the types of events it can draw. This includes pursuing long-term plans for a multi-faceted visitor center and even a multi-purpose banquet room for companies interested in using Cameo's facilities to host conferences and other events.
On Wednesday, the manager of the complex, Walt Proulx, gave an update on how far the facility is and what the future might look like in a presentation to the CPW commission that met in Grand Junction for a hybrid personal / virtual event .
The 1,700 hectare complex is the product of a partnership that was concluded between CPW and the city of Palisade around 2016. The land used to be a coal mine and a coal-fired power station, but Palisade was able to buy it with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from local affairs funds. The long-term plan is for the city to hand over the property to CPW as the developer of the complex.
It opened with an action-shooting sports pavilion in the fall of 2018, and Proulx told the commission it was hosting a state championship competition that was attended by people from 17 other states just seven days after it opened.
CURRENT OFFERS
Nowadays there are seven publicly accessible shooting ranges for day tickets. 13 event and training spaces; three sporty tone ranges; a long-range sniper rifle area with targets up to 2,000 meters away; four 3D archery loops that include trails with life-size foam targets; an archery bay; and a maintenance and service facility with a pro shop as well as office and meeting rooms.
The 20 shooting ranges have a Wi-Fi service that enables electronic scoring and remote video training by instructors around the world. Long-range targets located 400 meters or more have electronic sensors that flash red to warn the shooters if they are hit.
We are currently working on a mountain bike biathlon course – which will combine two of the Grand Valley's distinctive leisure interests. Proulx said that a user group for the course is being formed, Olympic biathlon targets have been bought from Finland and plans for the course should grow together over the next few months.
Proulx said that in addition to public users, 79 groups use the facility, including law enforcement agencies and women's and youth groups. There are 10 recurring monthly events and 20-25 training sessions per month for both law enforcement agencies and civilians.
PICK UP EVENTS
The facility has hosted state, regional, and even world championship competitions.
While 12 major events were canceled due to the pandemic last year, the facility was able to hold four events later in the year. So far this year there are almost 20 on the program, along with dozen of smaller events. The group A Girl & A Gun held their national conference on Cam eo this year and attracted around 500 women for three days of training and classes. Approximately 350 people from 28 states are registered for the Rocky Mountain Regional IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association) championship by the end of this month.
According to Proulx, the number of visitors to the facility has increased steadily and rapidly. From October 2018 to May 2019, 2,176 users were registered, 5,542 in the full year thereafter and 12,017 in the last 12 months, with Proulx attributing the addition of sports tones as a contribution to recent growth.
"I didn't expect this growth until we were almost finished with the upgrade, which is several years away," he said.
He said income increased from $ 34,700 to $ 122,550 over these three periods and to $ 529,310 in the past 12 months. According to Proulx, last year's dramatic income growth was also due to retail sales of sports clay.
Financially, he said: "We have already managed to significantly exceed expectations." He hadn't expected the complex to be revenue-neutral for several years, but he achieved it in the second year, with the cost nowhere near what was expected.
LOOKING AHEAD
Proulx told The Daily Sentinel that he believes CPW has so far spent about $ 1 million on the facility, which is the equivalent of $ 3 million in federal funds derived from an excise tax on sporting guns and ammunition. No state or federal income taxes were levied on the facility.
Now Proulx is aiming for a new construction phase with a visitor center and banquet hall. The visitor center would greatly expand the educational component of the facility, with Proulx envisioning that it could provide an opportunity for a full-day excursion for students.
As planned, there would be natural history exhibits, indoor shooting ranges, classrooms, a concession-run restaurant and pro-shop, a four-acre fish pond, a wetland riparian study area, a botanical garden with native plants, and an educational area and a western themed playground.
The banquet room would be large – "very large," Proulx said – with seating for 2,500 people. This number is not a coincidence. Proulx said the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation announced that they would like to move their national convention to Cameo and that a large hall would be required for the event.
Such a hall would also allow exhibition organizers to expand their events.
"Suddenly, Cameo got on everyone's radar for hosting large outdoor exhibitions," said Proulx.
He said the facility is unique in its ability to host not only vendors and exhibitors, but also sporting events and world-class competitions. Cumulatively, such exhibitions would generate enormous income for the facility, Proulx said. He said the type of events the facility attracts is also economically important to the region, as visitors fill hotels and restaurants, visit sports shops, take wine cellar tours, etc.
The facility has funds that it uses to design the visitor center. In the coming years, Proulx will look for sources of funding for the center and the banquet hall. But he told the CPW Commission that with the opportunities presented, investment in these facilities "will undoubtedly cover itself and some more".
'Notable facility'
Proulx said the facility has become world class unmatched by those in other states in terms of its offerings.
"Cameo is a great thing," he said. "I'm proud to be a part of it and it really wins the hearts of the people in the region and honestly across the country. This is on the radar of people from coast to coast and that's why they come here."
"This is just a truly remarkable facility," said CPW Commissioner Carrie Besnette Hauser, who is also president and CEO of Colorado Mountain College, to Proulx.
She said there is an "emerging Phoenix story about this place and the community that comes together".
"… It really is a kind of confluence of so many things that have made a difference for the Western Slope, and it really is such a center of excellence."
Commissioner Charles Garcia hopes CPW can replicate this elsewhere.
"I think working with this type of program nationwide is just a great opportunity," he said.