A Dresden area property owner who maintained a gun range for years and allowed Chatham-Kent police to train free of charge, has been rewarded with a Police Service Board Citation.
Chief Gary Conn says the gun range allows for training options that would otherwise be unavailable.
Property owner Mark Smith says the property is ideal, in part because it is isolated.
"It was the Dresden tile yard which excavated all the clay out, it's been reclaimed and turned into the police range and my work area for the business," says Smith. "At one time I used to be an officer in the [United] States, and law enforcement means something to me I guess, but I also felt that I was giving something back to my community that gave to me years ago."
Smith operates a wood recycling business on the site.
Conn says he not only installed a safety berm at his own cost, but he cuts the grass and removes the snow.