( CNN ) -- Through some highly successful crowdfunding and skillful negotiation , the last remaining laboratory of futurist inventor Nikola Tesla is now in the hands of a nonprofit group that wants to preserve the site and make it a museum honoring `` the father of the electric age . '' The Tesla Science Center announced that it 's completed the purchase of the building and land of Wardenclyffe Tower in Shoreham , New York , after trying for more than 18 years . The original asking price was $ 1.6 million , but the deal closed for $ 850,000 . Last year , the nonprofit made a plea on the Internet for donors . Tesla fan Matthew Inman , creator of the Web cartoon `` The Oatmeal , '' started an IndieGoGo crowdfunding effort irreverently titled `` Let 's Build A Goddamn Tesla Museum . '' Fans of Tesla 's responded , raising more than $ 1 million in about a week before wrapping up with $ 1.37 million . The Wardenclyffe Tower was to be where Tesla realized his dream of developing wireless communications and clean , free energy for the world . It was never completed , and the building was later used by a photo processing company , leaving the area tainted with chemicals . The money left over after the purchase will be used to clean up and renovate the property . The ultimate goal , an interactive science museum honoring Tesla , will require much more cash . `` Now begin the next important steps in raising the money needed to restore the historic laboratory , '' Mary Daum , treasurer of the Tesla Science Center , said in a statement . `` We estimate that we will need to raise about $ 10 million to create a science learning center and museum worthy of Tesla and his legacy . We invite everyone who believes in science education and in recognizing Tesla for his many contributions to society to join in helping to make this dream a reality . '' On his website , Inman thanked donors and said an event is planned this summer in Shoreham to help finance the science center . Musical performances , lectures , interactive exhibits and tours -- with Inman as one of the guides -- are planned during the two-day event . Inman also plans a special Tesla demonstration during the event . `` 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 , '' Inman wrote on his site . `` Again , we 're shooting for this summer but we have n't pinned down a date yet . '' The Tesla Science Center is also calling on volunteers to come out Saturday to assist in the cleanup along the perimeter of the site . Interested people can sign up using VolunteerSpot.com , which is helping organize the event . Largely forgotten for decades in the shadows of inventors like Thomas Edison , Tesla has emerged in recent years as a sort of unsung hero among the science-minded . Tesla foresaw the need for wireless transmissions in the late 1800s -- a hundred years before anyone picked up a cell phone . But Tesla 's work lost much of its financial backing after inventor Guglielmo Marconi sent radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean , and the lab site was lost in 1915 . Now , the nonprofit group hopes to soon be welcoming visitors who can understand and appreciate all the accomplishments and ideas envisioned by the inventor . `` This is a major milestone in our almost two-decade effort to save this historically and scientifically significant site . We have been pursuing this dream with confidence that we would eventually succeed , '' said Gene Genova , vice president of the Tesla Science Center . `` We are very excited to be able to finally set foot on the grounds where Tesla walked and worked . '' More information about fundraising events and the Wardenclyffe site can be found on the Tesla Science Center website , Facebook page and Twitter feed .
Nonprofit group has purchased former lab of inventor Nikola Tesla . After years , purchase was aided by drive by `` The Oatmeal '' creator Matthew Inman . Group seeks to turn the ground-breaker 's former lab into a science museum . Inman promises Tesla coil-fried sandwiches at upcoming fundraiser .