Roughing it at Millstone 4-H Camp will be getting smoother.

Gene Shutt, Millstone manager, said all 14 cabins built in the 20th century are being renovated with insulation, windows, bathrooms and heat and air conditioning.

Work is expected to be completed June 1 in time for the first campers to arrive on June 15.

However, the new bathrooms for each cabin will not be in operation.

“The big project is a sewer system being designed to hook up to each cabin,” Shutt said. “Until that time, we will still be using the communal bathhouses,” he said.

The renovated cabins will still accommodate 11 campers each.

Shutt said the N.C. Legislature allocated $750,000 for the work after supporters lobbied for the work some two years ago.

“We’d like to have some of the federal stimulus money to do some other work at Millstone,” he said. “Tell people to write to their legislators in support of that idea. We could use it to improve the dining hall, for example.”

Some work is also being done on ranges used by 4-H at the John Lentz Hunter Education Complex on the other side of the lake. That complex has also been upgraded recently by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

Millstone was established in 1939 and was used by the U.S. Army at Camp Mackall during World War II for training soldiers.

Before that time, it was a site where granite was quarried by hand to provide grinding stones for mills located in the Piedmont of North and South Carolina.

The camp covers 320 acres within the 60,000-acre Sandhills Game Land.

Near the center of the camp is a 17-acre lake where campers fish and canoe. A pool is provided for swimming.

Traditional camping programs are held there for youth ages five to 19 whether or not they are involved in 4-H.

Camping facilities are available for rent when not occupied for 4-H camp.

Work is continuing on the 4-H Museum project at Camp Millstone. A house was donated which will eventually be at the center of a complex devoted to the goals of 4-H in a museum format.

Camps scheduled this year include Horsemanship Camp; Fur, Fish and Game Rendezvous and Advanced Fur, Fish and Game Camp; Target Shooting Sports Camp; and two open enrollment camps for general activities.

Contact reporter Tom MacCallum at 997-3111, ext. 15; e-mail tmaccallum@yourdailyjournal.com.