Conference center could come to Western 4-H Camp
By Michael Johnson, Editor
The only 4-H camp in North Dakota, the Western 4-H Camp in Washburn, may get a big addition and provide added opportunities for youth and adults in the near future. That’s if the legislature decides that the multi-event center is worth the money needed to cover the cost of construction. As a way of helping the legislators and others remember the project, the NDSU BBQ Boot Camp showed up at the camp last week. When representatives from NDSU talked about the idea of a 4-H Conference Center at the Western 4-H Camp, visitors took it all in over mouth-watering shish kabob, steaks, ribs and roast beef prepared by the boot camp staff. Bryan Berg of Zerr Berg Architects said that the project planning has been in the works for about six to seven months. At that time Berg had to snowshoe in and survey the grounds to see how a conference center might be built down in the wooded area. That experience of snowshoeing along the Missouri River bottom helped him to see how great of a location this was for the center. "This is not just good for 4-H but for others as well," Berg said. The idea of the building has been floating around for years. The building would be laid out with a full scale kitchen, dining hall, meeting rooms, 12,915 square-foot conference room and dorm pods off the corners of the center that would allow for sleeping and living areas for those staying at the center.
