Last week we posted a link in our Forum to a campaign that was issued in order to raise enough money to purchase Nikola Tesla's laboratory up for sale at Wardenclyffe. A non-profit sought to raise $850,000 in order to match a grant of the same amount by the State of New York to secure the $1.6 million property and keep it out of the hands of a potential real estate developer who has put in an offer that might erase the site and legacy of a genius whose inventions transformed our world.
The Guardian reported that in the first couple days of the campaign issued by comic creator of The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman, that $500,000 had been raised in the effort. The $1.6 million total price secures the land only, but the hope is to raise even more in order to build a Nikola Tesla Science Center.
The latest update for this campaign is incredible:The total donated with 35 days still remaining in the campaign has surpassed the initial goal and now stands at $1,089,037 according to the donation website due to the massive online fundraising effort.
The campaign designer had the following to say about future plans following this extraordinary success:
In 9 days, we managed to raise over 1 million dollars to go towards buying back Tesla's old laboratory, and with the $850,000 matching grant from NY state this puts us at 1.85 million bucks. At its peak, the campaign was raising $27,000 per hour, crashing Indiegogo, and probably setting some kind of land speed record in awesomeness. Indiegogo put together this infographic showing some interesting data points behind the campaign.
So what happens next?
Even though we've already hit our goal, I plan on letting the campaign run the full 45 days. Every extra penny we earn will go toward restoring the property, building exhibits, and turning this land into something worthy of Tesla's awesomeness. The original goal of $850k was enough money to bid on the property, but it's going to take a lot more to turn it into an actual museum.
The non-profit behind this endeavor is beginning the process of working with the realtor to make a bid on the property. I'll post any major updates here, or you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
We've added some new perks to the campaign, including more t-shirts, hats, and posters signed by Tesla's last remaining relative.
(Source)Please watch the video below for some recent news coverage, then DONATE HERE if you have it in your budget to help save a very important part of the history of technology, and present a new repository of information for people to learn more about this largely forgotten inventor, his amazing work, and his tragic story as he fell prey to corporate power brokers.
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