Former Sugar Land mayor and businessman David Wallace says he will head an effort to find outside financing for Fort Bend Independent School District’s proposed Global Science and Technology Center.

Wallace, who chaired a feasibility committee in charge of vetting the ambitious project, said during a May presentation to the FBISD Board of Trustees that he is so confident of the proposed center’s benefits that he would happily head a fund-raising effort to find outside capital.

On Thursday, he said he has discussed the matter with several board members and FBISD Superintendent Dr. Timothy Jenney, “and I’m committed to do that.”

Conceived as a major component in a multifaceted approach toward improving science education, the proposed center would, among other things, include 16 interactive science labs, a planetarium, a “Sci-Max” theater, electricity-generating windmills and a huge rotating globe.

Wallace’s committee estimated total capital cost of the center at $26.4 million, including $19.8 million for actual construction, about $3 million for equipment, and another $3.6 million for soft costs including furniture and professional fees.

In his role as fund-raiser for the science center, Wallace’s challenge will be to raise about $5.3 million from sources outside the district - assuming the total cost of building and equipping the center is $26.4 million.

That amount became a requirement as a result of a resolution, approved by the board earlier this week, which serves as an administrative framework for moving forward with the science center project.

Among other things, the resolution states that the district won’t increase taxes, and will “secure partnership funding to defray expenditures of at least 20% of the total cost,” including construction, equipment, miscellaneous and soft costs.

“I feel confident,” Wallace said of the ability to raise that much money, adding that there “are literally thousands” of potential sources, including private business, grants and federal and state funding.

The FBISD resolution states that the administration will make monthly progress reports on the fundraising effort available to the board through December, and at that time the board may re-evaluate its commitment to the science center project.

Wallace said he considers that as something of a fund-raising deadline.

Chief executive of real estate investment and development firm Wallace Bajjali Developers, Wallace attributes some of his business success to the ability to quickly and efficiently raise cash.

The feasibility committee’s report to the FBISD board includes a list of 28 potential sources, which Wallace indicated he put together while considering who might be “a perfect fit” for partnering in the science center project.

Among those sources is the $115 billion education component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed by Congress earlier this year.

Other possible sources on the list are the National Education Association; J.P. Morgan Chase Community Partnership; 3M k-12 Education Giving SciencePlus; the G.R. Dodge Foundation; Captain Planet Foundation; Citigroup Foundation Educating Next Generation; Cisco Education Network; Dow Chemical Co. or the Motorola Innovation Generation Grants program.

Wallace also said he’ll be involved in raising 50% of the annual anticipated operating costs of the science center - pegged at $572,000 per year - for at least three years. That would equal about another $860,000.

“Most of that would be from corporate contributors…from the TIs of the world,” Wallace said, referring to Texas Instruments.

But if Wallace is successful in raising 20% of the science center’s building costs, how will the district come up with the remaining 80% without raising property taxes?

Dr. Jenney has issued no definitive statement on the matter, however, both he and the feasibility committee have noted the availability of the district’s capital investment account.

Jenney said last month that account holds about $26 million. Account covenants prohibit that money from being used for “non-construction activities,” the feasibility report says.

But presumably money from that account could be used to pay for the $19.8 million science center construction bill. If Wallace’s fund-raising efforts bring in another $5.3 million, that would amount to $25.1 million - just $1.3 million shy of the estimated $26.4 million total cost.