Matthew Inman (perhaps better known as web comic creator The Oatmeal) has an ambitious fund-raising project up his sleeve—to save Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower.

Wardenclyffe Tower is rich in history, a symbolic landmark of Nikola Tesla’s last great piece of scientific research that was in Tesla’s mind, destined to change the world.

I sat down with The Oatmeal for this Forbes exclusive to discuss his Tesla passion, ambitious campaign plans, and his motivation to attempt to execute such a massive fundraising goal.

Inman learned that the land was going up for sale for $1.6 million after seeing incoming tweets, saying that the folks trying to save Wardenclyffe were having trouble raising money, and then it got promoted on reddit. Someone in the comments mentioned that the people saving Wardenclyffe should probably contact The Oatmeal, due to having one of the most virally-successful fundraising campaigns in the case of Funnyjunk vs. The Oatmeal, which eventually became Charles Carreon vs. The Entire Internet—so Inman decided to step in and see what he could do to help.

The name of the company with intentions to purchase Wardenclyffe isn’t known at this point, nor their intentions with the property, but the rumor is that they would have the structure torn down, or have it turned into a retail space. It most likely woud not be a memorial, museum, or anything particular to Nikola Tesla—which didn’t bode well with Matt Inman, as one of Tesla’s most influential enthusiasts.

The state of New York has offered a matching grant of up to $850,000—so if Inman’s Indiegogo campaign can raise $850,000, the state of New York would contribute the other $850,000— totaling $1.7 million, and from there a cash offer can be made on the land. If the fundraiser achieves less than that, say $500,000 or so, New York state will still match that number, so he’d have a million dollars to make an offer to purchase the real estate.  The non-profit group is an organization called Tesla Science Center, they had informed him Inman that the current offer on the property is not a cash offer, so it is believed that if  anything over a million dollars in cash was raised, the campaign stands a chance to succeed. The non-profit organization had also mentioned that any remaining money would go towards renovating land and buildings on the site, because the current state of the property is a bit of a mess.

Inman is once again choosing to utilize Indiegogo after the success of BearLoveGood, and taking it upon himself to manage the newest campaign. All proceeds are going directly to the Tesla Science Center group (a 501(c) 3 non-profit), and they have been trying to buy Wardenclyffe for 15 years.

I asked Matt Inman a few more questions about the project:

What inspired you to do something of this magnitude?

Inman: As I’ve mentioned in my comics, Nikola Tesla was an unsung hero in the history books. He gave us so much and we gave him so little in return. The fact that there’s no physical Tesla Museum in the United States is a testament to this. Tesla’s rival, Thomas Edison, has multiple sites which honor his achievements, but Tesla’s got some little memorials here and there but no real museum here. This is something that needs to be fixed.

If your campaign is ultimately successful, what else is planned for the future of Wardenclyffe?

Inman: If we get the land, this will just secure the property as a historic site. This frees us up to try and renovate the museum or science center from here, and prevents another company from getting the property.

Building a science center will take a lot more time and money, so in the interim I’d love to have a Nikola Tesla Festival on Nikola Tesla Day (July 10).  It’d just be a big one-day outdoor event in Shoreham, NY where Wardenclyffe is located. The non-profit I’m working with has the blessing of Tesla’s nephew, and one of the last remaining people on earth who personally knew Tesla and shook his hand, and I’d love to have him there. I could also probably arrange for us to have a BBQ powered by Tesla coils and possibly some Tesla-inspired musical performances. I’d be there too, of course. The Tesla Festival would be an interim way of showing everyone who donated what came of their generosity.

extracted : forbes|.|com