Tesla museum nonprofit sues contractor over 2023 fire at historic site

A Shoreham nonprofit developing a $24 million museum honoring Nikola Tesla has filed a $3.5 million state lawsuit alleging a Bohemia demolition crew caused a 2023 fire that severely damaged the Serbian inventor’s former laboratory.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Suffolk County State Supreme Court, also alleges demolition contractor Green Island Group Corp. allowed an insurance policy to lapse shortly before the November 2023 blaze, leaving museum organizers to pay for damage repairs.

Officials of Friends of Science East, the nonprofit spearheading museum construction, have said the fire set back efforts to build the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, a museum that is to collect and display artifacts from the inventor, who conducted some of his early experiments in wireless communication at the Shoreham site in the early 20th century.

The 12-page lawsuit states the fire that destroyed part of the century-old laboratory, which was not slated to be torn down, was caused by a welding accident at several "non-historic" buildings being demolished elsewhere on the property. The fire gutted the 10,000-square-foot brick building, believed to be Tesla's last remaining lab, causing about $3.5 million in damage, Newsday has previously reported.

A report by Brookhaven Town Chief Fire Marshal Christopher Mehrman said the fire's cause was "undetermined," adding he "cannot rule out contractors utilizing torches for hot work,” Newsday previously reported.

Green Island Group Corp. did not return phone calls seeking comment. Court papers did not list an attorney for the company.

The lawsuit says the fire "resulted in significant property damage to the property, including but not limited to destruction of historic and non-historic structures, loss of valuable contents, remediation costs for smoke, soot, and water damage, and disruption to [the] ongoing preservation and educational efforts at the Tesla Science Center."

Tesla Science Center interim executive director Douglas Borge could not be reached for comment Thursday. 

In court papers, Tesla officials said the Nov. 21, 2023, fire occurred about 10 days after Green Island's 90-day insurance policy expired. The loss of insurance caused the nonprofit "to bear the full cost of damages that should have been covered by insurance," the lawsuit says. 

In April 2023, after about a decade of fundraising, Tesla and state and local officials held a groundbreaking to launch the museum project, which includes restoration of the laboratory and construction of a separate $4.5 million visitors center.

The Tesla Science Center website says plans call for transforming the former lab "into a dynamic museum celebrating Tesla’s genius," including "immersive exhibits that highlight his groundbreaking work and demonstrate its enduring relevance to our modern world."

Tesla, who died in 1943, had built the laboratory and a 187-foot wireless communication tower between 1901 and 1905, but financial struggles forced him to abandon the property in 1906, Newsday previously reported. The tower was torn down in 1917.

As of earlier this year, Tesla officials had raised $14 million, almost two-thirds of the project's cost, from public grants and private donations. An update was not available Wednesday.

The Tesla center began construction in June of the Eugene Sayan Visitor Center, which was not damaged by the fire.

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.