Grand Opening Ceremony Marks Completion of Archery Range Constructed by Union Volunteers in Missouri
On May 13, the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), unions of the St. Louis Building Trades Council and St. Louis Labor Council, Missouri American Water staff, Florissant city officials and community partners came together at Sunset Park in Florissant, Missouri, to dedicate a new state-of-the-art archery range with a grand opening ceremony.
The Sunset Park facility has a static range with a beautiful view overlooking the Missouri River.
“We are very excited to show off this new amenity for our City’s residents,” said Florissant Mayor Tim Lowery, who noted that the entire project was completed at no cost to Florissant taxpayers.
The range was the vision of Alan Bathon, president of Utility Workers Local 335, who passed by the city’s existing range at Koch Park twice a day on his way to and from work and wondered if a better, all access range could be built to better serve city residents and visitors.
Bathon is a member of the USA and approached USA staff about building a two-tier range – a standard range and an elevated walkaround range where shooters can take aim at fake deer and other targets. He then approached officials from Missouri American Water, who agreed to provide $16,000 for the project. McBride Homes donated another $10,000 for materials.
New archery range at Sunset Park
Volunteers representing the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council, Insulators Local 1, Utility Workers Local 335, Roofers Local 2, Cement Masons Local 527, Laborers’ Local 110, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 562, FTI Midwest Painters District Council 58, Operating Engineers Local 513, Sprinkler Fitters Local 268, Fire Solutions, Walsh Insulation, KB Electric, and Budrovich then donated 1,680 hours of labor, a value of $89,040, to construct the range.
“We’re proud to celebrate our latest conservation project, the archery range at Sunset Park,” said USA Conservation Programs Manager Sam Phipps. This range was constructed by Local Union members who volunteered their time and skills to benefit both veteran and novice archers alike. It will be 100% open to the public and serve as the primary practice facility for the Lindenwood University Archery Team.”
