THORNTON, Colo. (KDVR) — A Girl Scout troop in Thornton wanted a place to practice archery. After realizing there weren’t any open ranges in the area, they decided to build one themselves.

Twelve-year-old Samantha Gemaehlich has been an archer for about three years.

“I like archery because it helps improve my focus and it helps calm me down,” said Gemaehlich.

Gemaehlich and the girls in Troop 62511 wanted a place to target shoot and thought, why not just build an archery range of their own?

“There was an existing site. It was pretty small, though, and it was fenced in and looked more like a giant dog kennel,” said Brandy Schauppner, troop leader.

Troop 62511 went into action, contacted the city of Thornton, found a location and a deal was struck.

 “We talked about what my troop would be responsible for and what the city would be responsible for,” said Schauppner.

Thornton would provide the land; Troop 62511 supplied the donated materials and the elbow grease. And three weekends later, it was finished.

“Oh my God, I am so proud. I’ve had these girls since they were kindergartners, and they are eighth graders now,” said Schauppner.

The archery range project was fortuitous for the troop and the city of Thornton, which already was thinking of building one.

“It was just this beautiful coincidence, and we were so excited to partner with the Girl Scouts,” said Becky Post, city of Thornton adaptive and inclusive recreation coordinator.

With the land from Thornton, donated materials, and a little elbow grease, Troop 62511 hit a bull’s eye.

The archery range, which is free to the public, is located at the West Spratt Platt Open Space in Thornton. Open every day from sunrise to sunset.