A crowd gathered Saturday to get a look at a project that has been nearly a decade in the making. The Salina Police Department opened the doors of its new regional training center and invited the public to come out for an open house.

Salina Police Chief Brad Nelson told KSAL News he was pleased with the large crowd that gathered for the event.

The Chief said the 15,700 square feet building was completed in late 2020 but because of the pandemic the open house was delayed until now.

The Salina Police Regional Training Center include three drive-thru bays for the agency’s vehicular assets. In addition, it includes:

• 45-seat training room
• Ten 25-yard shooting lanes
• Judgement simulator room
• SWAT locker and change out room

The new range replaced a previous range which was located west of Salina that prior to becoming a shooting range had been a landfill and an animal shelter facility.

Chief Nelson said the facility has already lived up to the “regional in its name. Along with local law enforcement utilizing it, agencies from across the state have used it including the Kansas Highway Patrol and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Agencies from across the state are using the new Salina Regional Training Center.

New Salina Fire Chief Anthony “Tony” Sneidar and some of his firefighters stopped by the open house to support Salina Police Chief Brad Nelson and the Salina Police Department.