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Shoreham’s Tesla Science Center Given $1 Million Donation from Elon Musk

Written by Christian Abbatecola  |  11. July 2014

The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe in Shoreham continues to gain traction as it progresses toward its eventual opening. Yesterday, on what would have been Nikola Tesla’s 158th birthday, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk pledged $1 million toward the science museum, as well as a supercharging station that will be able to fuel up his company’s electric cars.

Musk’s donation makes a sizeable dent in the $8 million that the center is hoping to raise in order to finish building its museum.

Located at the last surviving laboratory to have been used by the famed Serbian-American inventor, the Tesla Science Center’s story began in 2012 when the company that owned the property was preparing to sell it, which likely would have led to the demolition of Tesla’s last lab. Matthew Inman, the writer and illustrator behind the webcomic The Oatmeal, caught wind of the story and launched a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo which quickly raised enough money to meet the seller’s asking price of $1.6 million. The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe completed the purchase on May 2, 2013.

Work on the museum has continued since, but in order to reach its benefactors’ dream of constructing a learning center that can be host to school field trips, educational conferences, workshops, scientific competitions, and, of course, a permanent exhibit dedicated to Nikolas Tesla, a fair deal more funding will be necessary beyond that which was used to buy the facility. The donation from Musk will certainly help the museum move in the right direction.

“He has challenged us at the Center to use our resources wisely, find additional resources, and reach our goal of creating this museum,” said Jane Alcorn, president of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. “We are excited and extremely grateful for Mr. Musk’s generous gift to Tesla Science Center, and also to Matthew Inman for arranging the opportunity.”

[Source: Tesla Science Center]

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