Linnahall shooting range would require multimillion-euro renovation

Turning the ice hall at Tallinn Linnahall into a temporary shooting range could initially cost about 500,000 euros, but repairing its leaking roof and covering maintenance costs would require a substantially larger investment, ERR reported.

Tallinn Deputy Mayor and Defence League member Kristjan Järvan has offered the ice hall to the Defence League as a shooting range after seeking the views of two range owners.

“At least 55-metre shooting ranges could be built here, inside the ice hall. The approximate investment would be half a million euros,” Järvan said.

He said the city saw the proposal as an additional option for the Defence League and the Centre for Defence Investment, whose own investment plans already exist.

Tõnis Orumaa, the owner of the Tondi shooting range and a Defence League member, said the ice hall could be converted for tactical shooting. Its full hockey arena would allow shooting 180 degrees to the left, right and forward, unlike a traditional range where targets are positioned in one direction.

However, the contents of the ice hall would first have to be removed and the roof made watertight. Maintenance costs would then be added. Orumaa said the same amount of money could be used to build two or three similar shooting ranges elsewhere in Estonia.

The Defence League already has a shooting complex near Tallinn where tactical shooting can be practised. The best facilities are at the central training area, Orumaa said.

Renovating Linnahall’s roof has been estimated at about three million euros, he said. That sum could instead be used to complete three Defence League logistics centres, Orumaa added.

The Linnahall ice hall closed in spring 2009. The last public event at the venue was held on December 27 that year.

The Defence League will decide whether it wants to take on the Linnahall project alongside its other responsibilities.