Target shooting to resume at WSRC
<span>Supporters of the effort to reopen the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta recently got some good news.</span>
<span>In a news release posted to its website, the Amateur Trapshooting Association announced that on Feb. 18, it was informed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources officials and representatives from Gov. Bruce Rauner's office that the suspension of shooting events at the facility would be lifted in the coming weeks.</span>
<span>"All the discussions I've had with them sound positive," said ATA Executive Director Lynn Gipson. "They're going to hire an executive director, or try to anyway. They're trying to get events going again."</span>
<span>The facility had been closed to shooting since October 1, 2015 as a result of the state's budget impasse, which entered its ninth month this week. The on-site restaurant, Event Center, fishing docks and vendors remained open during the suspension.</span>
<span>"I think it's just a matter time until it gets going, but it makes you wonder what it all was for?" Gipson said.</span>
<span>The first shooting event since the suspension is currently planned to be a Glock-sponsored handgun event at the pistol berm in early April.</span>
<span>But the ATA release notes that the event may be precluded by the resumption of the Thursday night trap league and youth practice sessions in mid-to-late March.</span>
<span>"Sporting clays? I don't know yet," Gipson said.</span>
<span>Shooting events for the entire year are being scheduled now, but day-to-day "casual shooting" schedules have yet to be determined.</span>
<span>As for the Grand American and the AIM shoots, Gipson said the Memorandum of Understanding with the IDNR is still in effect. The IDNR has a deadline of April 15 to open the complex.</span>
<span>"If we get the place open by April 15, our Memorandum of Understanding won't come into play, which is fine by us," Gipson said. "That was something we wouldn't be scared to do as far as managing the shooting aspects of the complex.</span>
<span>"We would have done whatever we would have needed to do, but now it doesn't look like we'll have to."</span>
<span>In other ATA news, March 14 has been established as the target date for the moving of exhibits into the Trapshooting Hall of Fame and Museum at the WSRC.</span>
<span>Established in 1969, the Hall of Fame chronicles the shooting careers and accomplishments of the greatest trapshooters in the history of the sport.</span>
<span>The list of nearly 175 enshrinees includes the likes of Annie Oakley and John Philip Sousa. The museum will include artifacts and exhibits that will showcase the history of the sport from its 19th century beginnings to the present day.</span>
<span>"The Trapshooting Hall of Fame is separate from the ATA," Gipson said. "When this budget deal went down, it really hurt their fundraising."</span>
<span>A ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on March 16. Volunteers interested in helping with the move-in can contact Gipson at lgipson@shootata.com.</span>
<span>Lastly, the ATA has announced a new sponsor program, "Southern Illinois Patrons of Youth Trapshooting," with Sparta's Butcher's Block as its first gold sponsor.</span>
<span>"We're still trying to work on sponsorships and try to get a few new ones," Gipson said. "Most of them are committed."</span>
<span>On Feb. 3, the Scholastic Clay Target Program announced that it would be moving its 2016 National Championships to the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio due to "the unresolved statewide budget issues in Illinois."</span>
<span>The move will cost Southern Illinois roughly $8 million in economic impact this year.</span>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-39243167-2a5c-faa9-68c0-2dda09921423"><span>"I just wish to God that SCTP would have waited," Gipson said. "It's just a shame."</span></span>