OLDHAM COUNTY, Ky. — As the shelves inside Open Range clear, customers mourn the loss of a beloved business.
Berry Laws, CEO and owner of Open Range, opened the shop in 2005 with a legacy he thinks of often. He plans to shut down the business for good on Dec. 31.
"As a premier training institution for safety and the second amendment in Oldham County, I think we achieved that goal," he said.
After 18 years, Laws said, signs pointed toward retirement. That's when he went looking for buyers and found Oldham County Police Chief Greg Smith.
"We're looking at a lot of positive out of this. And I think we're in the right location as well," Smith said. "The fact that we can have a larger space will be much better."
Smith oversees 46 officers in Oldham County and said the new space will help keep pace with the growth in officers they're seeing.
"It's going to have a lot of room for evidence, storage, administration," David Voegele, Oldham County judge executive, said.
Voegele said the move is a major investment in the police force and came at a more than fair asking price.
"This was a good match of a place to be able to practice and also do administrative work," Voegele said.
Laws said the county paid $2.8 million for the facility, which is well below the appraisal.
"I would say they scored. I really would," he said.
"Very few departments probably have that type of capacity and we're looking forward to using it," Voegele said.
The store closes on Dec. 31. At that point renovations will begin to turn it into a police department headquarters.
Oldham County officials say it'll take at least six to nine months to renovate the space before it reopens again.
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