New Escambia County Archery Park Officially Opens

December 10, 2014

Escambia County’s new $4.5 million archery park officially opensĀ  today.

The Klondike Archery ParkĀ  at 7201 Sparshott Drive off Mobile Highway was funded mostly by Florida Fish and Wildlife through a federal grant, with Escambia County contributing in-kind with the property.

The Klondike Landfill originally operated from 1976 to 1982 as a Class 1 Sanitary Landfill on 119 acres and was repurposed as the archery park,. The park includes a two-story archery platform, a shooting range equipped with miscellaneous targets, as well as a safety berm at the eastern edge. The facility includes a clubhouse, restrooms, limited kitchen and two verandahs with picnic tables. The parking area and shooting range are well lit for night time user safety.

For more information on the Klondike Archery Park contact the Lonnie Stone of Panhandle Bowhunters and Archery Association at (850) 982-2837.

Comments

22 Responses to “New Escambia County Archery Park Officially Opens”

  1. Glenda McDonald on December 8th, 2015 5:53 pm

    I’m very excited about the possibility of my teenage
    Son and his friends having a place to practice
    And learn about the compound bow.

  2. perdido fisherman on December 13th, 2014 4:20 pm

    looks like another soccer complex scam if you ask me, I think our money could have been better spent.

  3. mom on December 12th, 2014 7:55 am

    Really?! This puts the business man out of business who has an archery field. If I had this type of business, I would be ticked!!

  4. IM4MOPAR on December 11th, 2014 9:25 pm

    AWESOME!!!!!! 3D targets, saw where it’s also open to public on Saturdays from 9-1o’clock. It’s a nice place, good folks trying to give us a nice/ safe place to shoot.
    They have some very good PRO’S/instructors that are more than willing to teach and educate folks at the Thursday evening shoots.

  5. Dee Dee Green on December 11th, 2014 11:45 am

    I was there yesterday, looks great, they said it is open to everyone in the public. Panhandle is managing it. There is also a phase 2 that hopefully will happen. In the opening statements I love what the county rep said. If you are a hunter it is your responsibility to be a great shot. It is the ethical thing to do. Have fun, be safe and not just out there slinging arrows.

    I think there is loaner equipment, free tutorial days, and you can bring your own equipment.

  6. 429SCJ on December 11th, 2014 7:40 am

    I would like to see a public shooting range.

    I have found that some of these private pay and shoot ranges are plagued with off duty individuals who like to ask a lot of questions about things that are none of their affair. A friend has a range on his property and invites our circle of friends over to shoot, but often he is out of town. A public range, open 7 days a week, sunup to sundown would be nice.

  7. jeeperman on December 11th, 2014 6:31 am

    Our county commissioners donated the raped and contaminated land.
    The state of Florida was the middle man taking their cut of a federal grant to build the facility. A federal grant, which is OUR income tax dollars.
    To create an Archery Park for the exclusive use of club members which is open to the public at the whim of the club.

  8. wade manning on December 10th, 2014 7:33 pm

    I think this is an awsome opportunity for the children of this community to learn not only a valuable skill with the benefits of hand eye coordination! But the opportunity for a child that has no extreme physical attributes to be able to be awarded a scholarship! Some of the most prestigious collages in this nation all have archery programs like YALE, STANFORD, HARVARD, and many many more but this also provides an opportunity to be able to compete in the Olympics! And that my friends is awsome! We have some the finest athletes in the world in pensacola many hall of famers! I I know this place has some of the best! My son dillon went to nationals 2 years ago and was offered to shoot for Hoyt archery! But high schools do not offer archery! He is a football natural like his dad and stepfather but I would wrather see him in the OLYMPICS than in the NFL and im a huge football fan! So in closing I think this is a great move on Escambia County’s part and anyone that sees otherwise definitely made a very uneducated opinion on this opportunity that our state and county commissioners provided! Thank you Wade Manning !

  9. jeeperman on December 10th, 2014 11:37 am

    Their Facebook mentions that they have equipment to loan for use during the Thursday night public shoots.

  10. jeeperman on December 10th, 2014 11:32 am

    http://www.panhandlebowhunters.org/
    ^OPEN TO THE PUBLIC^

    THURSDAY NIGHT SHOOTS &
    FREE ARCHERY LESSONS

    5:30 – 6:30 PM — FREE Lessons
    (Minors & Adults)

    7:00 PM — 20 Target Shoot – $10.00 Fee

    The above is from the Archery Association website.
    Info is limited as to when members and non members can practice.
    The Archery Association was awarded the contract to operate the facility.

  11. BT on December 10th, 2014 10:30 am

    Wow, it costs a lot of money to shoot arrows. All this time, I’ve been doing it for nothing in my backyard or an open field.

  12. Richard Adams Sr on December 10th, 2014 9:27 am

    $4,500,000,00 for that? I would like an accounting of what the money went for. Looks like another boondoggle to grease politicians hands with kickbacks.

  13. Mark Strublemark on December 10th, 2014 8:46 am

    What is the cost for archers to use the range?

  14. southerner on December 10th, 2014 8:33 am

    What a socialistic waste of “4.5 million dollars”!

  15. interested on December 10th, 2014 7:29 am

    just wondering if any equipment and supplies are provided or available to rent or do you have to bring your own? i don’t own any archery equipment and i would like to try it out at least once, but i don’t want to have to purchase items that i may not use again. and is there a website for the facility or the association?

  16. jeeperman on December 10th, 2014 7:16 am

    Is this publicly funded park open to the public?
    Or do you have to join the Panhandle Bowhunters and Archery Association ?
    Are there set hours when it is open?

  17. A on December 10th, 2014 7:12 am

    Well done! I will bring my children. Thank you so much! We should All get back to the basics. What a wonderful opportunity.

  18. Mariah22 on December 10th, 2014 6:56 am

    The concept is great, but 4.5 million dollars? On what was the money spent?

  19. David on December 10th, 2014 6:41 am

    Great bunch of folks. Great place. Thanks a lot to the fwc for helping make this happen I know there has been a lot of people working together for a long time to get to this point. Thank y’all.

  20. Cheri DeCoux on December 10th, 2014 6:27 am

    That’s great!!!! Now, where is our boat landing on the Perdido that we’ve been promised for years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  21. Paul Wells on December 10th, 2014 5:06 am

    being a member of this organization I would like to ask each and every parent out there to have your kids get involved in archery.

  22. Doug hart on December 10th, 2014 4:59 am

    I think this is one of the best things for Sportsmens that has been done in the Pensacola area in a long time