A very generous birthday gift from Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and fans must have famed inventor Nikola Tesla smiling in the heavens on what would have been his 158th birthday.
A $1 million gift, a donation created through an online fundraiser and Musk's matching donation, will save the historic site where Tesla launched his experiments in wireless electricity.
The Wardenclyffe location had faced the threat of being converted into a shopping plaza, before cartoonist Matthew Inman launched a campaign to preserve the site and open a science center at the historic location.
Inman said more help is needed. The initial donation is just the start.
"It's been a year since we officially closed off Wardenclyffe, and after getting countless estimates from site planners, architects, and museum curators from all around the world, we determined that $8M is the bare minimum to build, staff, and maintain a Nikola Tesla Museum," Inman stated. "While we'll be grateful for any amount, any less than $8M would pretty much leave us in the same boat we're in now."
Non-profit Friends of Science East, Inc., the organization behind the museum in Wardenclyff, said the Science and Technology Center and Museum would be decidated to science and education. The group said it hopes the museum and science center will serve as a catalyst for innovation in Long Island.
"This center and museum would complement the educational efforts of the schools within this region as well as the community outreach activities of other prominent science institutions," stated the museum's board. "It would also look to provide possible space for fledgling companies engaged in scientific research."
Some of the exhibits the museum would like to display permanently include an exhibit on Nikola Telsa, exploratorium areas, incubator areas and a living museum for current research. They hope to hold symposiums, weekend science programs, workshops and science fairs at the site.
Along with the museum, Telsa was also honored with a day of oberservance in Brookhave and Shoreham in Suffolk County, New York. On Inman's blog, he posted a message about the news.
"Elon Musk: from the deepest wells of my geeky little heart: thank you. This is amazing news," stated Inman in the post. "Happy Nikola Tesla Day."
Musk also said he planned to place a super-charging station in the museum's parking lot, so owners of electric cars can recharge at the site where Telsa dream such things would be common place.
