The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center is kicking off a $1 million fundraising campaign for its new interpretive center with a little song and dance.

Nature Center officials will mark this year’s Earth Day with a performance by Douglas Wood and the WildSpirit Band at 7 p.m. Tuesday inside the Ruby Rupner Auditorium.

“We think it’s kind of a perfect storm to bring people and of course continue to put it out there that we’re interested in donations,” Executive Director Larry Dolphin said.

Nature center organizers have started the process of building the new $7 million interpretive center, which will take the place of the current visitor’s center.

The new building will be placed north of the current maintenance building, which will be moved in the fall to where the current entrance is. Officials say the process will take more than two years to complete, but one big goal this year is to move the maintenance shop to its new location.

The interpretive center will be 15,000 square feet — three times the size of the current building — and it will be built northeast of the maintenance building. A big part of the design will feature renewable energy sources for the building, including 50 or 100 kilowatts of solar-power, water collection to use for flushing toilets and such, and possibly electric car chargers.

Although the nature center received a $5 million grant from the Hormel Foundation for the $7 million project, Nature Center officials are still trying to raise $1 million for educational exhibits and displays, and they currently have about $350,000 for the displays.

The plan calls for 15 exhibits, which could include displays on birds of prey, creatures of the night, prairie/soil and plants, endangered species, and an early childhood room with several hands-on activities.

“We’re just continuing to try to put this out for people to help finish our work,” Dolphin said.

The nature center has already hired an exhibit display designer and architect and work will progress on the interpretive center throughout this year.

Aside from being an acoustic wizard, Douglas Wood is also a bestselling author who is working on a history of the nature center, called “The Essence of Place,” with local photographer John Duren. Wood’s band includes guitarist Steve Borgstrom and bassist Bryan Wood. The WildSpirit Band will play plenty of outdoorsy tunes, from Appalachian bluegrass to Miissippi blues and more. There will also be cookies, punch and coffee.

The event is free to the public, but nature center officials ask people to RSVP by April 20 at info@hormelnaturecenter.org or 507-437-7519.

—Jason Schoonover contributed to this report.