Thanks to the efforts of numerous organizations, businesses and community members, the Children's Museum of Houston's special project of establishing the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center is closing in on its $3.65 million fundraising goal.

"It's a clear indication of just how important this facility will be for all of Fort Bend County," capital campaign manager Tracy Golden said. "We must raise the remaining $837,692 by Dec. 31 in order to make the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center a reality. We need everyone to help us reach our goal."

So far, the center had received more than $2.8 million in donations from companies, such as Johnson Development, Wells Fargo and the George Foundation, among many other organizations, businesses and individuals.

"Donations are coming in from all over the county with 80 percent from Fort Bend County, which demonstrates the importance of this project to all of its residents," Golden said. "The community is truly embracing the fact that the [center] will provide a world-class learning environment, which will enrich the educational lives of all children in Fort Bend and beyond."

The Discovery Center will be a sister location to the Children's Museum of Houston and is expected to occupy about 10,000 square feet of space within the Imperial Sugar Land multi-use development. Although a site has not been selected, a structure near the eight-story Char House has been targeted for the museum's location.

In 2006, the Children's Museum of Houston was approached by a group of Fort Bend County residents interested in seeing a satellite museum in their area. The Houston-based museum held summer events in 2007 and 2008 in Sugar Land Town Square before deciding to move forward with plans for the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center. The summer exhibitions attracted thousands of visitors from throughout the Houston area, and had the numbers been annualized, the events would have ranked among the top 50 most-visited museums in Texas, executive director Tammie Kahn said.

"Between 14 to 20 percent of the visitors to our downtown location come from Fort Bend County," she said. "The child population [in Fort Bend County] is increasing so rapidly. The Children's Museum of Houston is more crowded than it was originally built for. Knowing that Fort Bend is going to continue seeing this growth, we made the decision over the last couple years. It has just taken off since then."

Early fundraising efforts allowed the museum's capital campaign committee to reach its goal of matching the George Foundation's $1 million donation before the October 2013 deadline. Once fundraising is complete, the money raised will be used to construct the space and cover operational costs and programming for the first three years to ensure the museum will be able to change its exhibits on a weekly basis, Kahn said.

The Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center is scheduled to open within the Imperial Sugar Land development in summer 2015. Six exhibits aimed at educating young visitors will be modeled after questions such as, "Can I Solve That?" where kids can practice math and science problem solving, and "How Are We Alike?" where kids can learn about different cultures. The museum's board of directors will vote on the next steps for the Discovery Center in January 2014.

For more information about the Discovery Center, call 281-494-0297 or visit www.fortbendchildrensdc.org.