The city’s Koko Head Shooting Complex will be closed for most of June to determine future safety improvements planned for the outdoor range in coming years.
The shooting complex at 8102 Kalanianaole Highway will close weekdays from June 2 through 23. Weekend access to all of the facility’s firearm and archery ranges will be open and available under their regular weekend schedules.
The temporary closure is needed to allow site surveying for portions of the 20-acre property ahead of longer-term safety improvements to this popular public facility, according to the city Department of Parks and Recreation.
The safety improvements expected to begin in 2028 include:
>> A replacement wall between the pistol and rifle ranges.
>> A new stairwell from the parking lot to the rifle range.
>> Improved backstops for the silhouette and rifle ranges.
>> Lead reclamation for all backstops.
>> Additional hand- washing stations.
“This is the only outdoor shooting range on Oahu, where entry is free for the city-run ranges; some are operated by gun clubs. So it is very popular,” DPR spokesperson Nate Serota said. “We hope that by keeping the complex open on weekends, it will be able to accommodate gun and archery enthusiasts for the three-week closure.
“The upcoming safety improvements are necessary because of the inherent risk of operating an outdoor, public firearms range. The complex requires special maintenance and protocols,” he said.
The shooting range’s temporary closure also will affect the Honolulu Police Department. “HPD conducts training at the range, and we worked with them to relocate their training during this closure,” he added.
As far as overall projected costs to upgrade the gun range, Serota could not say. “This survey work being done during this closure will help determine costs,” he said.
Prior to these planned safety improvements, renovations to the Koko Head Shooting Complex were tasked, with some continuing, following closure from fall 2022 to spring 2023.
Serota said that after a wide variety of upgrades and repairs during that time period, “we continued maintenance and had additional improvements to the other ranges operated by gun clubs.”
Those included but were not limited to carpentry, painting, masonry, metal work, roof repairs, landscaping, cleaning, fencing, electrical work and berm remediation.
“For instance, we tasked painting, carpentry and berm remediation to the metallic silhouette range,” he said. “That one remains closed as we work with the Hawaii Metallic Silhouette Shooters Association to reopen it.”
In September 2022 the shooting complex shuttered completely, and remained closed for months, after the city received notice that blood test results for 12 range employees indicated elevated levels of lead.
At the time, the city claimed those lead levels were well below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and medically established levels of concern.
However, the employees were relocated out of an abundance of caution, the city said.
Due in part to lead contamination as well as the age of the World War II-era facility, the shooting complex underwent both contracted and in-house repair work.
That work, which the city estimated at $400,000, included a berm renovation with 300,000 cubic yards of sifted dirt for the pistol and rifle ranges to reinforce backstops along the complex’s northern targets to prevent ricochets.
In August 2022, within the northern berm, a high- caliber bullet hit a dormant firearm slug that ricocheted into the window of a parked car. No injuries were reported in that incident.
The planned regular cleaning of the range’s pistol and rifle bays — to rid them of lingering lead dust and other possible toxic contaminants — was also to be done, the city said.
During an April 2023 news conference to announce the reopening of Koko Head Shooting Complex, Mayor Rick Blangiardi asserted there was a need for a second city-operated firing range, possibly in West Oahu.
“There’s a lot of conversation about whether or not we can replicate this finally on the West side, and we are already beginning to look at that to see what the feasibility would be so people wouldn’t have to come that far,” the mayor said at the time, adding that West Oahu’s growing population warranted such a facility. “It would be nice if we had a couple of these.”
Blangiardi stressed, however, that any future location or funding source for a second city-run firing range was unknown.
City officials did not immediately respond to questions last week on whether a second site or associated funding had been secured to build such a facility.
During the temporary weekday closures in June, the reservation system for the pistol and rifle ranges will remain in operation, with a free reservation at pros.hnl.info recommended but not required. Walk-in space is available but limited, the city said.
For more information, visit bit.ly/kokoheadrange.
