Long on swamps and short on cowboys, southeast Texas is a bit of a square peg when it comes to Lone Star State history.

But thanks to businessman John Nau and the forthcoming Nau Center for Texas Cultural Heritage — an innovative education facility and visitors center that will be located near Discovery Green Park — the unique story of the Houston area is getting the proper historical treatment it deserves.

During a special Monday luncheon at the George R. Brown Convention Center, CultureMap joined the Nau Center's newly-formed board of directors for an exclusive look at how acclaimed exhibit designers BRC Imagination Arts plan to unravel the Bayou City's complicated past not only for tourists and conventioneers, but for the city's ever-diversifying population as well.

Nau started the presentation with a reminder to the board that BRC doesn't dabble in a traditional artifacts-driven museum model of yore. Instead, the company — whose first projects were launched at Disney's Epcot Center in the early 1980s — concentrates on a fully-immersive experience than might incorporate anything from an interactive theater show to a hologram of Abraham Lincoln.

While BRC representatives only hinted at their technological plans for the Houston center (mentioning something about "cloud curating"), the company already has spent several months coordinating with local historians and educators to develop a rough outline for the city's historical narrative.

"Houston has this great story that's never been told," BRC senior writer Rich Procter says.

"People come here to seize opportunity and get big things done, but they do it in a way that empowers the next generation of achievers. We want young people to walk out the Center understanding that they live in a place where all of these extraordinary things have been done through the years. That's the real story."

The museum will be divided into two main exhibition halls, the first of which traces the story of Houston from the region's first native peoples and the Allen Brothers to Spindletop and the Civil Rights era. The second exhibit section focuses on major Houston achievements like the ship channel and NASA. A large theater space also is planned for the new building, which will be designed by Bailey Architects.

According to Nau, a ground-breaking date for the museum will be set once 50 to 60 percent of the $40-million fundraising goal is met.