BENTONVILLE — The exterior and interior details of Amazeum will complement Northwest Arkansas, Sam Dean, executive director, told Bentonville Rotarians Wednesday.

Most children’s museums boast bright, bold colors, but Amazeum will fit in with its location and the surrounding environment, Dean said.

The exterior of the more than 44,000-square-foot building will be primarily glass and wood paneling, accent colors will be light green and orange, he said, using artist renderings as visuals. The landscaping of the outdoor play space will only include plants native to Arkansas.

“This fits here in Northwest Arkansas,” Dean said. “We could not take this and put it somewhere else. It was built for this space.”

Amazeum will be an interactive children’s museum located at 1009 Museum Way. Ground is to be broken this year and the museum is to open in 2015.

“The best children’s museums — and the movement of children’s museums — is going toward the idea that it’s for whole families,” Dean said. “It’s for people to come and explore together.”

The interior designs were created with information gathered from community listening sessions throughout the region. The entry way will lead visitors to the town square, which will be surrounded by four anchors: a neighborhood market; a chemistry wet lab; an art studio; and a lift, load and haul center, which will focus on distribution, an important aspect to this region, Dean said.

Walmart will partner with the museum to provide the market area. The Hershey Company will assist with the chemistry wet lab and General Mills will assist with the distribution center.

There will be a tinker studio beyond the anchors. On the southern part of the building will be a section focused on the state’s “rich history,” and may include a homestead, apple trees, plantable garden and place for story-telling, Dean said. There will also be a section to explore nature inside, with “touchable tornadoes” and a “water amazments” area that includes water vortexes and a rain maker.

There will also be an outdoor space, which is something most children's museums don’t have, Dean said. The one-acre space may include dirt tunnels, sand stations and a learning garden. It will also have an event space to do “big outrageous things,” he said.

Pine Drewyor, Rotary president, said his family is “ecstatic” about Amazeum. They are the “prime sort of people” who will be using it as his wife serves on the Board of Directors, and they have three children, 7, 4 and 16 months old.

“We’re truly blessed to have the community that we do,” he said of the support he’s seen for Amazeum. “This is the sort of facility that can’t be dropped into every community.”

Michael Poore, school superintendent, attended the meeting and said the Amazeum will benefit students in the district.

The excitement of science, math and discovery at the youngest ages is “hugely important” in creating future engineers and creative, innovative adults, he said. Schools will be challenged to continue and improve project-based learning as the museum will create intrigue and a willingness to experiment among kids, he said.

“When you get this thing ramped up, all the expectations can kind of go up another notch throughout the whole system,” he said. “That’s the power of this deal.”