LINCOLN — From the ashes of a destroyed 4-H camp at the Nebraska National Forest, an ambitious plan is rising for a $47 million center for tourists, conferences, and local and regional events.

A feasibility study is underway for the proposed “Sandhills Discovery Center” near Halsey after the Nebraska Legislature, earlier this year, allocated $10 million towards replacing the State 4-H Camp, which was destroyed in a fire that swept through the forest 11 months ago.

State Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte, who represents the Halsey area and obtained the state funding, said that if the Sandhills Center is done right, it could rival eastern Nebraska’s Mahoney State Park and Lied Lodge.

“All too often we don’t dream big enough,” Jacobson said in a press release.

He called the Nebraska National Forest and the Sandhills on which it sits “two of our state’s greatest treasures.”

The Nebraska Community Foundation, which helps dozens of Nebraska communities raise funds for local projects, has already done an economic impact study that estimates such a facility would bring a $4 million a year benefit to Halsey and nearby communities.

Now the foundation is conducting a feasibility study to gauge interest among donors for such a project, and what exactly should be built.

“We want to figure out how to do this right,” Jeff Yost, executive director of the Nebraska Community Foundation, said Wednesday.

“This idea makes an enormous amount of sense to me,” he added, “because this is a unique part of the world, and people want experiences.”

On Wednesday, the Nebraska 4-H Foundation announced that its board, in a special meeting, had voted to commit a $2 million insurance settlement from the fire toward development of the Discovery Center. The state’s funding must be matched dollar-for-dollar.

“We look forward to working with the community in a statewide effort to provide a future, first-class educational opportunity for 4-Her’s and an economic driver for the wider community,” said Roberta Pinkerton, president of the 4-H Foundation.

The 4-H Camp, which had been a fixture at the Halsey forest for 65 years, hosted a variety of events, from family reunions and weddings to 4-H conferences and a “Becoming an Outdoors Woman” retreat.

Yost said people want to experience the Sandhills, a vast area of grass-covered sand dunes that became a National Natural Landmark in 1984. The same holds true for the 90,000-acre forest near Halsey, the largest hand-planted forest in North America.

The Middle Loup River adjacent to the forest hosts canoe and float trips, he said, and visitors could access nearby agri-tourism attractions.

The center is being envisioned on private land, near the forest and possibly on Nebraska Highway 2, a route that leads to the Black Hills and Yellowstone.

Yost said the facility, if deemed feasible, would be built in stages, with the first phase possibly opening by 2026.