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Before the holidays, President Obama signed a bill granting national park status to Coltsville, the former Colt manufacturing facility in Hartford, Connecticut, where the company operated from 1847 to 1994. Connecticut’s first national park will include the 19th century factory complex and several other historic buildings within the 260-acre Coltsville Historic District. The attraction may eventually draw as many as 200,000 visitors a year.

While many locals celebrated the news of a potential economic boost to some of Hartford’s poorest neighborhoods, the firearms industry is less enthusiastic, according to the Associated Press. Colt, which operates in West Hartford today, has declined to comment on whether it will be involved in the park’s development. Last year, the National Shooting Sports Foundation withdrew support for the Coltsville bill, championed by U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-CT), in protest of Connecticut’s strict new gun laws. “We think it’s more important to focus on good-paying manufacturing jobs rather than creating part-time jobs for ticket-takers at a park,” said NSSF’s senior vice president, Lawrence Keane.

Among Coltsville’s attractions are the old East Armory with its distinctive blue dome; Samuel and Elizabeth Colt’s home, Armsmear; and the Church of the Good Shepherd, which is decorated with sandstone carvings of revolver parts and a stained-glass window portraying Samuel Colt in flowing robes. Although the area now has park status, most of the buildings are in private hands and it may take years before the park service is able to acquire the properties.