In under one week, Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal was able to raise funding for a museum that celebrates the life of Nikola Tesla. Inman passed the $850,000 goal. The figure arrived after a $33,333 donation from filmmaker Joseph Sikorski.
Sikorski is the writer and director of the upcoming indie movie “Fragments from Olympus” based on Tesla’s life. Tesla Motors and SpaceX founder Elon Musk also supported the project. The Tesla Science Center now has $1.7 million after New York State matched the grant.
Another company was bidding $1.6 million for the land to make a retail park on it. Inman’s plan was to buy the site for a lower amount and put the leftover funds towards the museum itself. There is still around 39 days of funding left.
Tesla is known as one of the most important inventors, but there is isn’t a museum dedicated to his work at all. Inman’s campaign was put together to purchase Tesla’s old laboratory and convert it into a museum. The lab is known as Wardenclyffe Tower and it was built in 1901 in Shoreham, New York.
Wardenclyffe was abandoned in 1917 after Tesla lost funding for the project. The property was sold to a film manufacturer, but the tower and foundation had remained in place. The Tesla Science Center is going to purchase the land in the hopes of completing a 15-year campaign to turn the site into a museum.
Inman used Indiegogo to raise the funding and is known for previously using that website to fight against FunnyJunk.
