VIDALIA — A project almost 30 years in the making came to fruition Friday when Vidalia Police Chief Arthur Lewis dedicated the Bartell Schnieder Training Facility and Firing Range.

Schnieder worked for the police department for 38 years before retiring as the assistant chief of police in 2007.

During his tenure with the department, Schnieder began to construct a firing range on land at the end of Westside Drive donated to the police department by the city.

Lewis rekindled old memories during his dedication speech and said that the firing range would not exist without one man’s vision.

“All of this started off and is here because of a vision from Bartell Schnieder,” Lewis said. “He saw the importance of training, so this facility will continue to be used to train generations of police officers (to have) the skills necessary to carry out their duties of protecting the public. I want to dedicate this firing range to Bartell — my friend and mentor.”

Schnieder and his family were in attendance for the ceremony and thanked Lewis for the kind words.

“I don’t have anything to say, but thank you everyone for attending,” Schnieder said.

Firearms instructor Terry Thames will reside over the firing range and said officers will be trained in basic handgun, semi automatic and revolvers, basic shotgun and basic patrol rifle skills.

Thames said he helped build the range back up after Schnieder retired.

“The department was growing at such a rate that there was a need for us to have a firearms training facility,” Thames said. “This will be a great facility for us to train our officers.”

Currently the range is only open to law enforcement officials, but Lewis and Thames said they are working toward opening the range for public use as well.

“There are some safety issues we need to work toward first, but that is our goal,” Thames said. “We’ll welcome the public to come and use the facility once everything is ready.”