LCSO Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Firearms Training Center
Loudoun County, VA – A groundbreaking ceremony was held today for the new Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Firearms Training Center located off of Shreve Mill Road near Leesburg.
The new firearms training center will replace the current Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) firing range that has been on leased property since 1984. The approximate 55,000-square-foot facility will include a 10-lane, a 100-yard-long tactical firing range, an 18-lane, 50-yard-long tactical firing range, use-of-force simulator, classrooms, storage space and administrative and support offices. It will also include a 6,000 square-foot facility for force-on-force training.
The new facility will be an indoor training center, where the training will be conducted in a safe environment, and utilized day and night. Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said today that this facility, “is yet another accomplishment that will keep the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office a premier law enforcement agency in our region and in the country. This project also sends a message that public safety is a top priority in Loudoun County.”
The current range located near Chantilly has had no significant improvements for firearms training since it was established 35-years ago. “The current range is inadequate by today’s standards for training needs. The limitations of the old range include a failing target system, inadequate classroom space, and the use of trailers for storage,” said Sheriff Chapman during his remarks at the groundbreaking. “No more critical can a decision be than the use of force - from deescalating volatile situations utilizing our Crisis Intervention skills to confronting an armed perpetrator that may require deadly force. That is why state of the art training is essential for law enforcement officers to effectively and safely perform these functions- from one side of the spectrum to the other. This facility will accomplish just that,” Sheriff Chapman added.
“This important project continues to make Loudoun County a leader in not only providing the best in services to our residents but to those who serve our community,” said Major Eric Prugh, Commander of the Administrative and Technical Services Division, who is overseeing the project.
The new training center is the final project in a number of planned LCSO expansions over the past decade with the continued support of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, both past and present. Since 2012 the sheriff’s office has opened the Western Loudoun Station, the Ashburn Station, an administrative headquarters, consolidating several divisions, a state-of-the-art Emergency Communications Center with Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System, and numerous improvements to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center for both the inmates and the staff
Construction of the LCSO Firearms Training center is expected to be completed by the spring of 2020.
Attending today’s groundbreaking were Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall, Vice-Chair Ralph Buona, Broad Run Supervisor Ron Meyer, Catoctin District Supervisor Geary Higgins, Leesburg District Supervisor Kristen Umstattd, Deputy County Administrator Charles Yudd, Town of Leesburg Police Chief Greg Brown, Chief Fire Marshal Linda Hale, Chief Animal Control Officer Chris Brosan, and representatives from the Loudoun County Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure, Branch Builds, Clark Nexsen Architecture and Engineering, and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.