Gun club, city still
at a stalemate on facility

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

The faces in City Hall have changed, but thus far, the Holmesburg Fish and Game Protective Association has yet to see much movement in the city’s stance on letting the club continue to occupy its publicly owned shooting facilities.
Speaking at the monthly general meeting of the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association last week, club board chairman Kevin Kubacki said his organization met with city officials on Feb. 20 but was unable to reach a new lease agreement.
In addition to club leaders, Acting Prisons Commissioner Louis Giorla and Mayor Michael Nutter’s deputy mayor for public safety, Everett Gillison, attended the meeting.
"The future is still up in the air. It’s a negotiating process," Kubacki said.
At stake is future use of the last civilian outdoor shooting ranges in the city. Kubacki’s organization, commonly known as the Holmesburg Gun Club, built the facility from the ground up on a tract of mud flats along the Delaware River just south of Pennypack Street and adjacent to a Philadelphia Water Department treatment plant.
The club has occupied the site since 1930. The facility now includes outdoor pistol and rifle ranges, an indoor range, and skeet and trap fields. Decades ago, members erected a clubhouse with rest rooms, a meeting area and other modest amenities.
Through the years, the club has always leased the property from the city, which built the Fire Academy and Police Academy on adjacent ground.
On Aug. 1, the city notified the club that it would terminate the lease at the end of December because the Philadelphia Prison System needed the site to train its correctional officers. With the help of City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski and other advocates, the club won an extension.
The task now is to work out a shared-use agreement that will satisfy the prison system’s needs and allow the club to use the site too. According to club officials, there are no other available locations in the city that could support an outdoor shooting range.
They also maintain that the city should support the club and its unique mission in the same way it supports other activities in the community. The club promotes safe use of firearms by law-abiding citizens, as well as firearms instruction and competitive target shooting for adults and youths.
"Despite the fact that we’re a gun club, this is not a gun issue," Kubacki said. "What we do there has nothing to do with the crime and violence in the city. We don’t understand how the city can provide golf courses and skate parks for the community" while trying to take their facility away.
Previously, the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association had voted to support the club’s effort to keep its current facility. Kubacki invited residents to visit www.holmesburgfishandgame.com to monitor developments on the issue.
Another guest speaker at the civic meeting invited residents to join a volunteer organization affiliated with the United States Coast Guard.
Clark Edwards described the Coast Guard Auxiliary as the "volunteer civil service arm" of the Coast Guard.
"We do everything the Coast Guard does except law enforcement and military (actions)," said Edwards, a member of the local flotilla based at Delaware and Washington avenues.
The auxiliary is like a "Town Watch for the water," he added, although members need not serve on the water. The organization also operates on land and in the air, with duties including search and rescue, environmental monitoring and protection, courtesy boat inspections and disaster relief efforts.
There is no mandatory physical training or minimum time requirement, Edwards said. Volunteers serve as much as they want in whatever capacities they wish. Volunteers must be at least 17 years old. For information, visit www.cgaux276.org.
In other UHCA business:
• President Stan Cywinski announced that the organization’s Town Watch branch would continue periodic patrols through the winter, with plans to increase their frequency as warmer weather arrives.
"We’re trying to get out at least once a month. In winter (crime) isn’t so bad," he said. "As the weather starts warming up, we’ll try to beef up the outings we have."
For information, call 215-335-6799 or visit www.upperholmesburg.com
• The next Upper Holmesburg Civic Association meeting will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20, at St. Dominic’s Marion Hall, 8532 Frankford Ave. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com