Located in a Henrico County Enterprise Zone, this former furniture store, originally constructed in the 1960’s, had sat vacant for 5 years. Several unsuccessful attempts had been made to put it to other uses, from banquet hall to health care. This 60,000 SF building has now been successfully repurposed as Colonial Shooting Academy, named a 5-star shooting facility in September 2012 by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. This distinction makes CSA the first 5-star range in Virginia, the fourth on the East Coast, and one of only 25 in the nation.
Colonial Shooting Academy offers 32 ranges that are open to the public, 11 ranges and a “shoot house” for law enforcement training, a private club member range with seven lanes and a private lounge, retail and food services, classrooms and meeting rooms, and gun cleaning and storage services.
A focus of the redesign for both the interior and exterior of the building was to make the public areas look inviting without being intimidating, and to set a tone a notch above some of the local competition. The main entrance was relocated to the side of the building, and a covered walkway was provided along the length of the building to provided weather-protected access to and from the main parking area located at the rear of the building.
The façade was updated and modernized, but the two-story showroom window statement on the building’s front was preserved to maintain a street presence on Broad Street. On the interior, the use of bright accents of colors contrasts with a more industrial palette of exposed structure and ductwork. A broad walkway leads shooters past the retail displays to the mezzanine level lane rental counter.
