Two-part password-protected WordPress site

Hi all.

I need to create a website for an organization which needs to hold two distinct sections, a public area with several static pages of presentation, and a private area which will be more blog-like and be accessible to a few dozen people. It will contain semi-sensitive data.

The general idea is to have a front page with around 5 or 6 different pages, and have a button somewhere that says “blog access” which would ask for a name and password. This should lead to the blog with the corresponding user logged in.

I decided to use WordPress because I used it to build my personal site and am pretty familiar with customizing it using PHP. However, I have no experience in dealing with a multi-user private site. I know how to use htaccess to block access to folders, but that’s pretty much it.

Is it possible to use one installation of WordPress to handle both sections? I thought of using a subdomain to host the private section but I suppose if I do that then one installation is impossible. I don’t mind installing WordPress twice if it’s absolutely necessary, though.

Are there any tutorials on the web which explain clearly the steps to follow in such a case?

Thanks.