Perot Museum opens to kids and kids-at-heart in January 2013

"Everyday, we feel a little bit better about the January opening," said CEO Nicole Small.

Jason Janik

Perot Museum officials announced the new logo, which they call "Explanatory Brackets."

Nestled on the side of Woodall Rodgers in Dallas, the Perot Museum of Nature & Science has been under construction since November 2009. Officials from the new museum announced that -- finally! -- it will open in January 2013. The exact date will be announced this fall.

"I'm like a kid when I go inside the museum," said Nicole Small, CEO of the museum. "It's unbelievable. To walk in yesterday, there was a [kids exhibit] that's already working.

"This is going to change lives."

The museum costs $185 million and includes a $50 million donation from the children of Margot and Ross Perot. Located in Victory Park, the museum is easily recognizable as a gray cube with a glass escalator jutting out one side.

Jason Janik

Before the logo was introduced, it was concealed inside a cubed structure meant to look like the Perot Museum.

Officials also unveiled the Perot Museum logo, a black font with red brackets over a globe in place of the "o" in "Perot." The logo will not go on the outside of the modern building, but it will be seen throughout the inside. The room was buzzing as a cube in the shape of the museum was unrolled to reveal the logo inside. Bursts of confetti announced the new design.

The logo is called "Explanatory Brackets," and Director of Marketing Beth Hook said the brackets symbolize the world of possibilities between them. She also said they are trying to personify the museum as if it were a human, saying it would be "the life of the party," "inviting," and "friendly."

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings pointed to the tourism opportunities of the museum. "The whole state of Texas will enjoy it as well," he said, calling it "one of the most important learning laboratories."

Also new is the website perotmuseum.org.