Anyone want to buy Hot Wells?

[stuhoevel]

I wonder if they know the cost of the environmental cleanup required to change the use of the land.
All of that lead has to be taken out of the ground

It's not as expensive as you think.

I was talking the the range master for Capitol City Clay's in Austin once. They had a company come out once and clean up the lead bb's on the skeet and trap ranges. He told us after all expenses the range received a check for about $95k. Last time I was up there he said it's getting close to time to do it again and the sporting clay ranges were about ready to be cleaned up.

I'm currently doing an estimate for Temple PD range. We have a quote from a firm to come in and clean out all the lead from the range for about $40k. They are also reconfiguring the berms on range by rotating it 90 degrees to a 150 yard range for about $100k. They plan on reusing all of the dirt.

There is salvage value in the lead. If the lead is just in the dirt and hasn't hit the water table what's the issue?

 

[Otto_Mation]

I wondered what happened to Hot Wells. I used to shoot there in the 80's. Thanks for the memories.

 

[craigntx]

I wondered what happened to Hot Wells. I used to shoot there in the 80's. Thanks for the memories.

The death was the beginning of the end

 

[striker55]

I shot there, I liked the light from shooting outdoors. And I didn't mind the heat, if I'm shooting I'm happy, even with sweat.

 

[karlac]

Went there often in the 50's in Jr High and High School; well before it was a range; It had the only Olympic size pool around (other than the Shamrock Hilton), complete with mineral water, and a dance hall.

 

[Mills]

Went there often in the 50's in Jr High and High School; well before it was a range; It had the only Olympic size pool around (other than the Shamrock Hilton), complete with mineral water, and a dance hall.

Boomer flashback.
Back in the 50’s there was a pick your own strawberry farm at Hot Wells, my family would go there, that was a long time ago.

 

[karlac]

Boomer flashback.
Back in the 50’s there was a pick your own strawberry farm at Hot Wells, my family would go there, that was a long time ago.

Yep, forgot about that.

We had 250 strawberry plants in one of the gardens, so didn't need to give it a try.

 

[karlac]

Speaking of Houston area ranges of yore ... you're really a boomer if you took your .22, on horseback, to the old Army Rifle Range on Katy Road, just past the Alamo Vet Clinic, where Gessner (then a shell road) started at Hempstead Hwy (Carl's BBQ, anyone?) and ended at Katy Road.

Where Memorial City Mall was later built.

We used to swim our horses in the old rifle range berm pits on hot days just to cool off.

 

[popper]

Gee Karlac, I thought I was old.

 

[cbp210]

I am going to miss this range for two reasons. They allowed our staff and other LEO agencies shoot there for free as we just sign into their books in the past. My daughter team used to practice skeet once a week on weekday which made it more convenient and we had seasonal league shoots. I will never forget the memories seeing my daughter and my team kids winning third place in 2019. So sad and now we are left with far away ranges despite them being great but so far from me and team members from the North.

 

[Brains]

Hempstead Hwy (Carl's BBQ, anyone?)

Carl's is still there, open every day.

 

[Mills]

My mom would drop me and a few friends off near the Addicks dam spillway, we would hike over the dam taking our 22s into the woods .
Stay all day shooting at ( everything ).
Those were good times .

 

[Eli]

I just saw this thread, thought I'd comment a bit!

Looks like the site is up for sale: bizjournals.com Hot Wells Shooting Range site in Cypress for sale

"A 48-acre property that was once the site of Hot Wells Shooting Range has hit the market with an initial asking price of $8.5 million."

The property is substantially over-priced, you have to cross the Union Pacific (former Southern Pacific, former Texas & New Orleans, nee Houston & Texas Central) railroad tracks to access it and the UP won't allow any new public crossings. I know this because I lost out on an unrelated development project that would've put upwards of $10mm in my pocket except it was cancelled due to this!

That is why home developers setup shell corporations. Build a subdivision and then close company and start another. Harder to file legal actions against them. Same will happen to that land. It'll be bought transfered and then Developed.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

It's oftentimes shell company after shell company, and a LOT of fraud.

You're right. I've told the story before so I won't again but it feels really, really strange to drive past a neighborhood that was built atop a superfund site. Built after a dozen changes in ownership and no remediation, that is.

That's frightening!

Eli

 

[karlac]

Carl's is still there, open every day.

Where my girlfriend used to drop me off to hitchhike back to A&M in the wee hours of a morning.
It was way out in the country then.

 

[Polkwright]

I only shot there once and wasn't exactly impressed but this story reminds me of my old range...Southwest Rifle Range on Old Richmond Road near what was then Hull Airport (now Sugar Land Municipal). It succumbed to surrounding development, plus competition from what is now the American Shooting Center in the Addicks reservoir. I haven't been by there in quite a while but it was still there, all overgrown. I'm sure some of you must remeber it.

 

[benenglish]

Range on Old Richmond Road near what was then Hull Airport (now Sugar Land Municipal).

From that description it sounds like you're referencing the old place that used to be on Boss-Gaston Road but that can't be right. That area has been paved over with housing.

Do you have a map location? There are at least two additional ranges that I remember on the SW side of Houston and I'm guessing if I can get a good view, it'll jog my memory.

 

[somedudefromhouston]

I have been to the range Polkwright mentions, as well as Shooters Cove, the one on Gosling mentioned above. Shot IHMSA at Shooter cove, a nice place

 

[Polkwright]

From that description it sounds like you're referencing the old place that used to be on Boss-Gaston Road but that can't be right. That area has been paved over with housing.

Do you have a map location? There are at least two additional ranges that I remember on the SW side of Houston and I'm guessing if I can get a good view, it'll jog my memory.

Boss-Gaston Road sure sounds familiar but I can't remember why! Maybe that's it? The roads look to have been all moved around and/or my memory might be wrong after forty years. My memory puts it further south than I think it was. I remember I turned west at Townewest subdivision. That would now be West Bellfort. Maybe it's in what is now a landfill. Which would make sense given the lead contamination on that property. I don't know. I'm going to have to let this one go to the fog of the decades past.

 

[Eli]

I only shot there once and wasn't exactly impressed but this story reminds me of my old range...Southwest Rifle Range on Old Richmond Road near what was then Hull Airport (now Sugar Land Municipal). It succumbed to surrounding development, plus competition from what is now the American Shooting Center in the Addicks reservoir. I haven't been by there in quite a while but it was still there, all overgrown. I'm sure some of you must remeber it.

I grew up at that range - it was the closest to my house (near what is now W Bellfort and BW-8), and allowed NFA. I showed up one time about 30 years ago, when I was a teenager, and it was the last weekend it was open.

Eli

 

[benenglish]

Boss-Gaston Road sure sounds familiar but I can't remember why!

It probably sounds familiar because that was the range that all the Astros players who lived in Pecan Grove used to use. Or because ZZ Top used to hang out there. It's the place where Dusty Hill shot himself. He was banging the owner's daughter so one day while stripping down in her bedroom in one of the trailers at the range, he dropped the deringer out of his boot and wound up with a bullet in his stomach.