Thomas Edison’s memorial tower to again shine light

Light will shine from a memorial tower honoring the town's namesake, Thomas Edison, for the first time in a decade this weekend following a $3.9 million renovation.

Officials will rededicate the once-crumbling Edison Memorial Tower on Saturday, nearly 80 years after it was christened on the grounds of the Menlo Park labs where Edison created more than 400 inventions, including the incandescent light bulb in 1879 and the phonograph in 1877.

Mayor Thomas Lankey will take part in the tower's rededication, which hundreds of people are expected to attend. Lankey told the Home News Tribune that the restoration, funded by the state, Middlesex county and private contributors, brings the tower back to its "brilliance."

"The newly restored Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, with its 77-year-old tower and museum, is once again a proud jewel of our community and a shining beacon that attracts thousands of visitors annually from around the world to Edison Township," Lankey said.
Since 1999, the nonprofit Edison Memorial Tower Corp. has worked to restore the tower and the museum, whose 12,000 annual visitors include school groups, Edison enthusiasts, scholars and historians.

The museum will undergo a $2 million expansion when funding is secured, officials said.
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