There’s no shortage of readers of this blog who are interested in the research of Nikola Tesla. So this new IndieGoGo crowd-funding campaign is surely one that Grailers will be interested in: Matthew Inman, creator of the popular webcomic The Oatmeal, is aiming to build a Tesla Museum on the site of the famed scientist’s last research lab:
Tesla’s final laboratory is located in the sleepy town of Shoreham, New York. It’s known as Wardenclyffe and it’s where Tesla attempted to build a tower that would provide free wireless energy to the entire earth. Unfortunately, Tesla lost his funding before the project was completed and in 1917 the Wardenclyffe tower was demolished. Subsequently, the land was sold to a film and paper manufacturer.
However, the land, laboratory, and foundation beneath the tower are still there and very recently went up for sale. And right now a non-profit is trying to buy the property and turn it into a Nikola Tesla Museum. The property is listed at $1.6 million, and this non-profit has received a matching grant from New York State of up to $850k. This means that if we can raise $850k, New York State will match us for that same amount — putting the total raised at $1.7 million.
There is currently another offer on the table from someone who wants to purchase the property potentially tear it down or turn it into a retail establishment. There is no Tesla museum in the United States, despite Tesla’s extraordinary accomplishments. If we can outbid this other person and buy the land it will permanently be protected as a historic site and eventually converted into a Nikola Tesla Science Center.
I don’t know much about the non-profit that the funds are going to, or if there are already other organizations aiming to preserve Tesla’s legacy, or even if the overall goal has merit (here’s one critical piece) – so, as always, I urge personal research if you care where your money is going. But if you’re happy to go ahead, then chip in – unbelievably, at the time of writing the campaign is only $100,000 short of it’s $850,000 goal.
