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  This support — overdue for too many who have not been Science Station members, IMAX film goers or financial contributors — highlights just how important people now realize the Science Station — McLeod/Busse IMAX Dome Theatre is to the community as a learning center, an entertainment venue and a downtown attraction.

  While it’s looking more and more promising that the grass-roots effort will be enough to keep the Science Station doors open beyond the threatened Nov. 15 closing date, that won’t ‘‘save’’ the facility. It merely will buy a little more time for the entities that really can save the Science Station to wrestle with how to retire a $1.3 million debt and ensure long-term sustainability of the science center and the theater.

  First and foremost, that responsibility lies with the Science Station itself. Management and the board governing the organization have made giant strides to improve its value as a science center and its financial standing. But more work is left to be done to show a credible operating plan with reasonable assurances of long-term sustainability, which could include an endowment and ownership of its currently leased building.

  The other partners in the solution will be the major funders in this region — big businesses, foundations and the few individuals fortunate enough to be in a position to write a significant check.

  This group already has played an important role in demanding the Science Station develop the kind of strategic goals and operating plan that can boost confidence in the organization.

  No one has publicly indicated a willingness to play the ‘‘white knight’’ in this situation.

  But several people and organizations appear to be considering significant donations once they are convinced that Cedar Rapids can realistically support this facility. No one wants to commit to what would be seen as a ‘‘bailout’’ and then have the organization falter again a few months or a few years from now.

  The Science Station may never be ‘‘profitable,’’ nor does it need to be.

  Few non-profit organizations are.

  But non-profit organizations do need to have operating plans that specifically and reliably show what the operating shortfall is. And then they need specific fundraising plans to show how that shortfall will be covered, year after year after year.

  As the focus potentially shifts in the next few weeks to the big-money donors to the Science Station, no one should forget the grass-roots effort. It’s been exciting to see such a rallying cry and downright inspirational to see kids emptying their piggy banks and telling stories about the joy they experience at the Science Station. It’s also been disheartening to know that so many people who could have and should have been supporting the Science Station earlier waited until a death knell was sounded to answer the call.