Nikola Tesla’s Lab Has Been Saved

From: Lewrockwell.com

Imagine what wonders will be discovered when the long-forgotten property is cleared

What’s next?

The remainder of the money from the campaign will be used to clean up and begin renovations on the property, but actually turning it into a museum is going to cost quite a bit more.

The non-profit behind this project has a site plan to turn the land into a science center. They don’t want this to become a stagnant museum where you visit once and then never go back. Instead, they want it to be a place with rotating exhibits, classes, and working space for entrepreneurs, researchers, and students.

Unfortunately, the land is covered by a derelict, asbestos-laden factory space that was built by a photo processing company who previously occupied the property. Building the museum would require either renovating or demolishing all of these structures and preserving the original Stanford White structure that originally housed Tesla’s laboratory. This is going to take time and a lot more money. Furthermore, there are believed to be tunnels underneath the property that were built by Tesla and may still house some of his equipment, and we want to be able to examine and excavate these underground chambers before building anything on top of it. There are rumors of a huge underground resonance chamber, and although I don’t know what an underground resonance chamber is exactly I’m fairly certain it’s both terrifying and awesome.

When can I visit the museum?

Although the actual science center is going to take a lot more time to finance and build, in the interim we’re planning on having an event in Shoreham, New York hopefully this summer. We’re still figuring out the details, but this would be a two day event and will have musical performances, lectures, interactive exhibits, and guided tours of the property (I’m going to be one of the tour guides). The event will focus on science, technology, and innovation. If you're interested in speaking, please contact us.

Also, I own a fully functional Tesla coil cannon and I plan to BBQ some Sriracha-bacon sandwiches by shooting them with its 20,000 volt electric arc, so the event will be both scientific and delicious. Again, we're shooting for this summer but we haven't pinned down a date yet. I’ll post the details about the event as soon as I have them.

Reprinted with permission from The Oatmeal.