DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A plan to revive the troubled Detroit Science Center is moving forward.

The board of what’s being called the “Michigan Science Center” plans to meet Monday to consider dates for reopening.

The Michigan Science Center has “significantly more” than $2.5 million in funding commitments, including a $1 million pledge from General Motors Foundation.

“I have to turn the commitments into dollars. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to open the science center. I want to inspire these kids, and I can’t do it with the doors closed,” board chairman Tom Stephens told The Detroit News.

Stephens said possible reopening dates for the newly renamed science center stretch from as early as November into the first part of next year.

As part of the effort, former Michigan Republican Party chairman Ron Weiser earlier this year reached an agreement to purchase the land, building and contents of the Detroit Science Center from a bank that holds its mortgage.

The Detroit Science Center closed last September after its board decided an ongoing deficit had created a financial crisis that couldn’t be fixed without halting operations.

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