Cobb to Break Ground on $21 Million Police Firing Range

Cobb County will soon break ground on a new firing range and training facility for its public safety officials.

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 last week to approve the final portion of a $21.5 million agreement with Catamount Constructors for the facility’s construction.

The 65,000-square-foot space will primarily be used by the Cobb County Police Department and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office for weapons training, according to the county communications department.

It will also be able to accommodate other scenario trainings that require open space and fit up to 50 people in firing lanes at once.

Construction is expected to begin in October. The facility will open adjacent to the Cobb County Police Academy in Austell in November 2025, per the county.

“The new indoor range will allow the Cobb County Police Department to continue to focus on and increase the quality of training by providing the best-trained officers to the citizens of Cobb County,” the county communications department wrote in a Tuesday email to the MDJ.

According to the county, public safety officials have been training at an outdoor range near the Cobb Sheriff’s Office that was built in 1994. Advancements in lead mitigation technology have made the use of indoor ranges not only safer, but more convenient than outdoor ranges.

“The new indoor range will offer the potential for 24-hour usage regardless of weather, offer noise reduction for neighborhoods, containment of any potential hazards such as projectiles and an isolated training environment free of outside distractions creating a better learning environment,” the county said.

According to county staff, funding for the project was approved in 2016 and 2022 SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) packages.

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said the firing range is the final part of the public safety project approved in SPLOST packages, and will complete the south Cobb training campus.

“It will complete the training facility, to have everything all together in one location for training purposes,” Birrell said. “... It is a good investment.”