We're finally learning more about the secret plans to renovate Wonders of Wildlife.

The public and Springfield City Council have pressed the museum's board to make the plans public.

In an exclusive interview, Emily Baucum sat down with the council member charged with following the money trail.

John Rush is the first person we've spoken with who has been inside these doors.

He's preparing a report that follows the money trail of how your tax dollars are being spent.

Rush will give the full report to Council next week.

Tonight, he shared his findings with us.

All we've seen is a computer model, but Wonders of Wildlife says, expect to be wowed by what's inside.

"There's nothing like this anywhere else in the world," says Rush.

Councilman John Rush has toured the hard-hat zone, met four times with WOW's staff, and pored over the museum's audit, financial statements and tax return. "In the meeting, I said, you know, it's been like two years. And people want to know what you're going to do out there."

Here are a few answers. Rush says construction will cost $60 million. Documents show $50 million is coming from Bass Pro Shops founder John Morris' checkbook. But about a million dollars is coming from your tax dollars.

Rush adds, "even if it's a dollar, it's still tax dollars and it's our stewardship."

Yet questions remain. Why is Wonders of Wildlife still keeping the plans secret?

"I'm struggling with that, too. In the nonprofit world, if you gave me a check as big as I saw presented at that board meeting, I'd have been begging Channel 10 to say whoa, look at what's happening here," explained Rush.

We would love to show you what's happening inside, but WOW director Peggy Smith told us a month ago we're not allowed inside for the foreseeable future.

"I can tell you why you're not getting in to see the building. It's a different of culture. From Wonders of Wildlife's perspective, and from John Morris' perspective, this is almost like a gift to the city. It's millions of dollars."

Rush says WOW doesn't want to ruin the surprise like a proposed movie screen on the outside of the building. "They don't want to tell that's going to be there because they're not sure City Council will allow it."

Rush says the only question he still has is will this building really open by next December? He says the timeline is ambitious, especially for a project that's left the public in the dark.

We're told when the museum was built there was handshake agreement that WOW and Bass Pro would never be connected.

Of course, handshakes aren't documented and the construction would connect the store to the museum.

Rush says the handshake has been discussed in meetings, but he doesn't know more about it.

We have tried to reach out to Wonders of Wildlife's Director Peggy Smith for months.

She will not disclose anything regarding the construction.