The Olathe Police Department is moving forward with plans to build a new police shooting range near Interstate 35 and 167th Street, after receiving the city council’s approval earlier this month.
The Olathe City Council approved rezoning to make way for the new shooting range at its meeting on May 6. The vote was 6-0 with Councilmember Dean Vakas absent.
“It’s very antiquated and very out of date,” Olathe Police Chief Mike Butaud said of the existing facility, located on the Olathe Public Safety Campus off Old Highway 56 and Kansas Highway 7.
“It’s really just a dirt berm with some blacktop around it. It’s really not so super sufficient,” he said.
A new site in a most industrial area off I-35
The new facility will be built on roughly 95 acres near the highway and 167th Street, which is largely surrounded by industrial development. There is also a rock quarry and an existing firing range for the Kansas Highway Patrol nearby.
The combination of interstate and railroad traffic will help buffer the sound, Butaud said.
Additionally, a noise study was conducted at the site by Lenexa-based Avant Acoustics, which city officials say concluded that the firing range in that location will comply with city code.
“The study found that with all the added berms, walls, the sound absorbing features, that noises from the range itself will dissipate to a level that is quieter than the existing ambient noise by the time it reaches the property boundaries of the site,” city senior planner Nathan Jurey told the council this month.
The firing range will be built in 3 phases
The $15 million facility will be built with $2 million from the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
The project will come in three phases:
- Phase 1: Constructing the outdoor range, two small buildings, berming and additional soundproofing.
- Phase 2: Expanding one of the small buildings to become a roughly 21,000-square-foot training facility, which will include an indoor shooting range.
- Phase 3: Adding an emergency vehicle driver training course and associated facilities, like a bathroom.
“Overall, this project does preserve 98% of the woodland area on site, as well as the stream corridor,” Jurey said, adding that trees along 167th Street will also be preserved.
The expected completion date for the entire project is in early 2026.
“Thank you for your support of this project to date,” Butaud told the city council. “I know that you’re fully aware that training is essential in the city and very integral for public safety, so this is a very needed project for us.”
