Tom Hunt Energy Hall Slide Show

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After four years of capital drives, the team has raised $107 million for the 4.7-acre project, which ultimately could plant up to 500,000 sf of nature and science space on the Uptown site. The mission is to marry exhibit space to educational programs, with a strong science focus, and create a destination for tourists and residents alike.

The public's first viewing of any space is the Tom Hunt Energy Hall. Now, the team's moved onto the schematic stage, with the museum's final design to be unveiled next spring, according to Nicole Small, the museum's CEO. "This is the most exciting point other than the opening," she says. "We are working on the exciting design features." The museum is slated to open in late 2012.

The Tom Hunt Energy Hall will take up 6,500 sf, one of 12 galleries planned for the museum. Other galleries will include medical science, engineering, paleontology, sports science, birding, wildlife conservation, the universe and a children's museum plus special exhibit space. The 2005 recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Prize--Thom Mayne of Los Angeles-based Morphosis--is the museum's architect. Ralph Applebaum Associates Inc. of New York City is the interior designer.