The city of Hamilton is looking at erecting a large statue of Nikola Tesla at Bayfront Park, and renaming part of Burlington Street after the inventor. And advocates insist the inventor's tie to Hamilton is strong enough to merit it.

Swayed by a volunteer group aimed at promoting Tesla’s legacy, the city’s general issues committee asked staff to find out what’s involved in renaming the stretch of Burlington Street from the QEW to just east of Ottawa Street the “Nikola Tesla Expressway.”

They’re also pondering accepting a statue of the inventor for Bayfront Park. The Nikola Tesla Educational Corporation, which is based in Hamilton and the GTA, says it’ll fundraise to pay for the statue.

Tesla is widely seen as a brilliant engineer and futurist. He's responsible for, among other inventions, the alternating current electrical system, and his theories contributed to the development of everything from modern radios to X-rays.

He's relevant to Hamilton, said Vic Djurdjevic of Oakville, a former resident of Hamilton. He’s relevant enough to name a major stretch of road after him.

“The electric city was as a result of Nikola Tesla’s invention,” said Djurdjevic, president of the Tesla Educational Corporation.

Hamilton — particularly its industrial area — has benefited from Tesla’s genius, he said.

It was the first city in Canada to benefit from Tesla's alternating current system, he said, and that source of cheap power is what drew industries to Hamilton.

Tesla is so relevant to Hamilton, Djurdjevic said, that it’ll inspire more jobs, productivity and inventiveness. He foresees the new north-end high school at Scott Park named after Tesla, and a local scholarship.

“These initiatives will be the lightning rod to spread awareness of Nikola Tesla and his vision.”

Councillors seemed to agree. Coun. Bob Morrow of Ward 3 said he supported the idea “very strongly.”

Coun. Maria Pearson of Ward 10 in lower Stoney Creek said it comes “at no cost to the city, and brings education to young people.”

The Tesla Educational Corporation can use the same design as a Tesla statue in Palo Alto, Calif. and it will only cost about $70,000 to erect in Hamilton, Djurdjevic said.

It would cost $85,000 to erect a statue with a new design.

The idea has a fan in Nikola Vulajic, an east Hamilton resident with a Tesla tattoo on his calf.

“I’m just super pumped,” he said.

As for what it has to do with Hamilton, Vulajic said the city has a large Serbian population.

He’s less certain about the argument that Hamilton has benefited more from Tesla’s inventions than other cities.

“If we talk like that, then we should have statues on every street corner.”