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TSC presents status update at Wading River Historical Society
1 October 2009
TSC President Jane Alcorn explains Tesla's visions
for the Wardenclyffe plant.
(Photo: Bob Alcorn)
On a chilly October evening, several TSC Board members joined a
lively group of local history aficionados who crowded into the cosy
parlor of the society's historic 1828 house at the "Duck Pond".
After the society's regular business, TSC President Jane Alcorn
gave a comprehensive overview of Tesla's various research and
engineering work and his vision for the Wardenclyffe plant. Augmented
by lively discussions of several historical facets, such as the
state of development of roads and buildings at the time, Jane
outlined how the site became a photo processing plant and eventually,
as a result of prevailing waste disposal practices at the time, part of New
York State's Superfund Program. Having completed the environmental
cleanup, Agfa, the property owner, is offering the site for sale.
TSC Board member Dave Madigan explained Agfa's sales offer and how
both the current zoning (residential, two acres) and the environmental
easements on parts of the property affect what a potential buyer
can do with the property. Answering questions from the audience,
Dave commented on the strong support from elected officials to
acquire the property for public use and reported that, according to
recent press releases,
they have approached Agfa requesting to be considered as a buyer.
TSC Secretary Chris Wesselborg giving
a virtual tour of the Tesla site and laboratory.
(Photo: Bob Alcorn)
TSC Secretary Chris Wesselborg then took the audience on a photo
tour of the site, which included a close-up view of the tower base
and of the inside of Tesla's laboratory. The pictures demonstrate
how well the laboratory was built and that, despite many years of
use as an industrial building, it has great potential as a future
museum. Contrasting historical images from Wardenclyffe at Tesla's time
with similar views from the recent site visits inspired interesting
conversations about the significance of Tesla's work at Wardenclyffe.
(A pdf copy of the presentation is available
here; file size: 6.3 MB.) Incidentally, the
photo tour was the public debut of TSC's new flat screen monitor
and its superb display quality.
During conversations after the presentation, TSC Board members
learned of other ongoing activities, such as a recent update at the
Shoreham Village website, which has an
interactive map of Shoreham Village in 1917. The
map is part of the website's
village history page
with many links to interesting local images.
The TSC Board thanks the Wading River Historical Society for the
opportunity to speak about the status of the Tesla site. This
presentation was supported in part by a grant from Suffolk County.
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