Club house
That building on the Southwest corner of Sloans Lake was once the Denver Municipal Trap Club
Have you ever wondered, "What is that adobe building on the southwest corner of Sloans Lake; the one near the torpedo monument?" If you have, you're hardly alone. This architectural oddity is vexing to both Denver newcomers and natives.
The answer however, is not one you'd come up with unless you guessed for a very long time.
From 1923 until 1969, the building located on the corner of (roughly) 17th Avenue and Sheridan Blvd. was home to the Denver Municipal Trap and Skeet Club. That's right, for many years the sound of shotgun blasts reverberated safely over the waters of Sloans Lake.
In 1921, the members of the Denver Trap Shooter's Club approached City Superintendent A.K. Vickery and asked for a trap range. They were no longer able to occupy their former clubhouse in what would later become Aurora.
Vickery was more than willing to accommodate the club and immediately offered up the site on the southwest corner of Sloans Lake.
He went on to praise the sport. "Trap shooting is one of the cleanest of sports and attracts a class of men who are counted among the best citizens of any community," according to Denver Municipal Facts.
In 1923, the clubhouse and trap range opened to the public. The clubhouse - that distinctive adobe building - was similar to clubhouses found at Denver golf courses; they hosted banquets and offered apres' shooting beverages. Denver's civic skeet club remained in operation until around 1969 when a combination of noise complaints and financial woes forced the operation to move out. By 1970, the City was busy dredging leftover lead from the bottom of the lake.
Denver municipal trap shooting club
Wait, that wasn't safe, was it?
While the idea of sport shooters firing live rounds over Sloans Lake sounds strange to contemporary ears, it's not quite as extreme as you might think. Consider that the area around Sloans was nowhere near as populated in 1923 as it is today. It was literally the edge of town, as these photos show.
Consider also the location of the range on the far southwestern corner of the lake. From that corner to the north/northeast corner of the lake is approximately 5,173 feet.
There are a lot of variables that determine how far buckshot travels, including the gauge of the gun, the size of the shell's load, the weather, and the angle of the gun as it's being fired. But, assuming a person was firing 00 or 0 buckshot from a 12 gauge shotgun (a pretty standard load for skeet and trap shooting), his or her shot would likely travel less than 2000 feet. That places the pellets well short of the other side of the lake. (Remember, these numbers are approximate.) So injuring bystanders wasn't likely.
Shooting pit
Though the idea of a civic trap-shooting range might not resonate with modern Denverites, it wasn't such an odd idea in the 1920s. During that decade, the city experienced rapid growth and prosperity and was quite open to facilities and sporting clubs that promoted civic life. Not long after the trap club was approved, the City okayed a proposal to allow fly fishing clubs to use the pool at Sunken Gardens Park to practice casting.
Civic skeet shooting hasn't endured as a component of Denver Parks and Recreation, but the building that housed the Denver trap range seems likely to be with Denverites for a very long time to come.
Comments
Growing up we lived on the North side of the lake we would go over there and collect empty shells
Thanks for sharing that with us, Ray. We've also recently found out that Sloans Lake was also where DPS driver's ed classes would go for practice!
Brian K. Trembath you clearly have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to trap and skeet, 00 or 0 buckshot has NEVER been a standard load for skeet and trap shooting. Interesting article on Denver history though.
Hi JJ - Thanks for reading and commenting. We agree that we could definitely have worded that a bit better (it's been a few decades since I shot skeet). Our real point was to answer the question whether or not it would be safe to shoot a shotgun from that point on the lake without the pellets traveling all the way across for our readers who aren't familiar with firearms at all.
Stay well!
I understand the point but you have now told an unknowing beginner to use buckshot for clay shooting. Perhaps you could edit or correct the article? Trap and skeet loads are typically 7-1/2 - 8 shot, many times smaller than buckshot. High power target loads can not travel over 250 yards 750 feet and won't harm a person at much less.
My dad, Martin Graber, shot trap there and one year took the state championship. Sadly he wasn't able to afford to go to the nationals to compete. I do remember as a child watching him shoot there.
Hi Dave - Thanks for reading and commenting. Sounds like it was a pretty fun place part shooting range, part 19th hole!
Thanks for an interesting read, Brian. Amazing to imagine the noise that would've created, in contrast to the relative quiet of today! What use does the building serve today?
Hi Laura - Thanks for reading and commenting. I thought the same thing about the noise. It seemed like, at some point, people began compaining about the noise but it's pretty clear that there were plenty of houses nearby that whole time. We'll look into what that building is now.
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