By June of next year, Michigan State University (MSU) will have one of the top collegiate shooting and archery facilities in the country.
The school recently broke ground on the $3.7 million, 23,000 square foot John and Marnie Demmer Shooting facility, which will house shooting sports and archery teams.
“The need for this came about for several different reasons,” says Bill Taylor, with MSU’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. “There’s a great interest in shooting 
sports — both archery and riflery — that exists in the state of Michigan.”
However, many college-bound students interested in pursing these sports bypass MSU for better-equipped schools.
Several years ago, when MSU started a fundraising campaign for the new facility, students from around the state sent in emails stating that they would consider changing schools if the facility were constructed.
“It will increase our student body,” Taylor says of the new facility, adding that the new facility also increases the likelihood of the state producing Olympic-caliber shooters.
The center will be the second-largest indoor shooting facility in the Midwest and the only shooting sports center to offer two indoor ranges and three outdoor archery ranges. The facility will be located on Jolly Road between College and Hagadorn.
Source: Terry Link, MSU
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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