Outdoor shooting range closed for renovations

A public outdoor shooting range in Tuscaloosa County will be closed indefinitely for renovations and remodeling.

South Sandy Shooting Range sits between Tuscaloosa and Moundville, a few miles up a dirt road off U.S. Highway 82 South. It consists of 16 shooting benches under an awning facing earthen backdrops at 25 and 100 yards.

It is one of 12 ranges in the state owned and maintained by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, so anyone with a valid, state-issued hunting or fishing license, is welcome to use it free of additional charge.

Shooters of all skill levels visit the public range and fire rifles, pistols and shotguns at targets they set up themselves.

Marisa Futral, the department’s hunter education coordinator, said frequent use has led to a lot of wear and tear to the fixtures there.

“That range gets a whole lot of public use,” Futral said. “The shelter and benches have all been shot up pretty bad over the years.”

Futral said the range closed at the end of January and would remain out of service for “at least a couple months” while the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources replaces the damaged fixtures there.

She said the recent wet weather in the area is also making it difficult to traverse the dirt roads leading to the range, delaying the work even further.

Futral directed anyone interested in tracking the progress of the renovations and repairs to her department’s website, www.outdooralabama.com. She said anyone looking for a similar public range can go to the recently renovated Cahaba shooting range in Shelby County, which will reopen in March, or seek out privately owned ranges nearer to Tuscaloosa.