Lord of the Ring fans know Minas Tirith all too well. It is the capital of Gondor, the land of Men to the South. It was the main setting in Return of the King. It was also laid to complete waste after the epic battle that took place there.
Minas Tirith is also (hopefully) going to be a real destination care of a super ambitious IndiGoGo campaign started by a group of architects led by Jonathan Wilson.
Wilson introduces the project to the Internet in the campaign page. He says, "We are an ambitious team of Tolkien fans who are passionate about creating a beautiful, inspirational and fully-functioning replica of Peter Jackson's depiction of Minas Tirith, as seen in his Lord of the Rings films."
Their dream, if realized, will only cost £1.85bn or $2.9b. The breakdown goes as follows: £15m for land, £188m for labor costs and £1.4bn for building materials. The rest of the money will go to maintenance up to 2053. There are two locations being eyed but both will offer a spectacular view, according to Wilson. Both can be found in southern England.
There are a twenty donation options from as low as £3 for a Twitter follow and £100,000 for a lordship in Minas Tirith.
If they happen to raise the needed money, and they have 47 more days as of this writing, then Minas Tirith will be part residential and part commercial. They will make the complex friendly to sustainable growth and will offer a high quality of life.
They hope to begin construction next year in 2016 and be done by 2023. As a level of assurance to its supporters, the group has this to say: "If we don't reach our goal of £1.85bn, all pledges will be cancelled and you will not be charged a penny."
Pretty interesting. If the project is successful, it will mark the single biggest crowdfunded project yet. IndieGoGo's largest project to date raked in over $12.8m, while KickStarter got about $20m for the Pebble Time campaign.
