A master plan involving upgrades during the next decade for the public archery facility in Lemmon Valley was approved Tuesday by Washoe County commissioners.
The 110-acre Silver Arrow Bowman Archery Range, 1255 Matterhorn Blvd., currently consists of practice ranges, a field archery range, bow rests, picnic pavilions, work benches and a broadhead sandpit.
The Washoe County Community Services Department and TSK Architects held several public meetings to collect input regarding the facility’s master plan. The plan consists of enhancements, including trail improvements, expanding archery and hunter education facilities, installing amenities such as parking, and constructing an Olympic-style or Paralympic-style archery range.
According to the master plan, the top priority is to improve and stabilize course trails between 2022 and 2025. This involves investing in permanent site and trail signage and improving erosion control on paths.
Other projects, such as construction of a permanent 3D course and new shooting stations, are expected within the next 10 years depending on funding and approval by the Bureau of Land Management and surrounding neighbors.
Plans also call for a new archery education center and new public restroom. Additional priorities include regrading the southwest portion of the site to make it a regulation-sized range, building a safety berm, providing direct handicapped access to parking and education facilities.
A 3,000 square foot education center is expected to cost between $2 million and $3 million for each of its two phases, according to the master plan. Other improvements were estimated to cost less than $1 million each.
Last year Washoe County applied for and received a grant through the Nevada Department of Wildlife for the purposes of developing the facility’s master plan, a document that sets trajectory for future growth.
Washoe County has held a federal Recreation and Public Purposes Act lease for the archery facility since 2007. It’s operated and managed by the Silver Arrow Bowmen Archery Club, a local non-profit organization, under a sub-lease.
For more information, visit https://www.washoecountyarchery.com.
