Boise closes deal for new police shooting range on Kuna Mora Road

Boise police officers could be training at a new shooting range as early as this fall.

The city of Boise has finalized a deal to buy the range’s future location: 120 acres north of Kuna Mora Road between Cole and Pleasant Valley roads. The purchase price was $550,000.

Design of the new range is just beginning, city of Boise spokesman Mike Journee said Thursday. The city’s working concept is to build at least two shooting areas — a handgun station and a 250-yard rifle range — as well as a 50-foot-by-50-foot area for “secondary training,” Journee said. It’s unclear exactly how that area would be used.

Restrooms, administrative buildings and parking space would also be included on the property. That would still leave room for expansion if needed in the future, Journee said.

There’s no estimate of how much the project will cost, he said.

Details are just as scarce for the future of the police department’s existing shooting range, located in the Boise Foothills near the end of Mountain Cove Road. Journee acknowledged that the new location, in the open desert several miles south of the Boise Airport, is more suitable for a firearms training range than the current location, which is surrounded by heavily used recreation trails and several homes.

“The only discussions we’ve had is, ‘Would it make for appropriate open space?’ Which it would,” Boise Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway said. “Beyond that we have not had any other discussions.”

Before development of the new range can move forward, Journee said, the City Council must approve the project.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Boise closes deal for new police shooting range on Kuna Mora Road."