The Langley Whale Center is $10,000 closer to becoming reality.

On Tuesday, the Langley City Council approved a deal to contract with the whale center for economic development.

Originally, the center asked the city for tourism promotion funds, but later officials deemed it more of an economic development activity, which will come out of the city’s General Fund. A total of $31,250 was budgeted for economic development by city leaders, with $11,250 going to the Langley Main Street Association and now $10,000 to the whale center.

Fred Lundahl, a Langley business owner and Main Street member, applied for the funds on behalf of the center. He said the money will go toward audio-visual displays, printing and mounting of informational posters, advertising such as ferry-rack cards, as well as the $7,200 annual lease for the space and utilities costs.

“We’re pleased that the city saw that this can be an economic driver,” Lundahl said.

The whale center got a lot of buzz after it received an initial $5,000 from Langley Main Street Association, which has an office in the building on the corner of Second Street and Anthes Avenue. Lundahl and fellow whale-enthusiasts Howard Garrett and Susan Berta, founders of the Freeland-based Orca Network, plan to operate the whale center for free with volunteer staffing. The network tracks whales and other large sea mammals through Puget Sound and advocates for whale protection,

The center is slated to open March 1.