Lawrence is in the running as the site for a distribution center that would serve the nation’s largest manufacturer of paintball equipment.

Lawrence resident Ken Farris, president of Extreme Sports Inc., said Tuesday that his company was seeking a site for a 5,000- to-10,000-square-foot warehouse to handle distribution for his company’s growing wholesale and Internet sales of paintball equipment. He said the center would employ about eight people full time and 10 part time.

The company, which also does business under the name Drop Zone Extreme Sports, has a small warehouse in Topeka, which houses its corporate offices and one of the company’s three retail stores.

Farris said the company’s growing relationship with Brass Eagle, the largest manufacturer of paintball equipment in the nation, necessitated the expansion. Drop Zone handles small-parts distribution for Brass Eagle.

“Basically it means if someone buys a paintball gun at Wal-Mart or Kmart and then needs a part for it later on, their call comes to us and we’ll ship it out to them,” Farris said.

Coupled with the company’s own Internet sales, Drop Zone’s business has increased by about 30 percent during 2002, Farris said.

“We’re going through about two semi loads of merchandise a week and we’re doing it in a place in Topeka that is too small,” Farris said.

Farris had reached a tentative deal to lease about four acres at 1235 N. Third St., the former site of Westheffer Co. But those plans were abandoned after city officials informed him the site, just north of the Kansas Turnpike, would require about $80,000 worth of improvements to its entrance, parking and drainage areas to comply with city codes.

“We knew we were going to have to spend some money, but we weren’t expecting it to be that much,” Farris said. “We could probably do what we want to do for far less money in Topeka or Olathe.”

Farris said the company would continue to search for a site in Lawrence, largely because it would be a central location to serve the company’s three stores in Topeka, Olathe and Gladstone, Mo. But he’s continuing to look for locations in other communities as well, including Topeka and Olathe.

“We would sure like Lawrence to be our base of operations,” Farris said.

The company is looking for a Lawrence location that would accommodate the warehouse and allow for a small retail store to sell paintball equipment and supplies. Depending on the size and location of the site, Farris also would consider adding an area to play the game.

In addition to its other locations, the company also operates an 89-acre facility in northern Franklin County where people pay to play paintball, which involves people shooting guns loaded with soft paint pellets that splatter on impact.