Crowdfunding has become very popular lately leading people to come up with more unique projects. Recently, fans of “The Lord of the Rings” created the idea of building a real-life Minas Tirith through crowdfunding.
TIME reported that an ambitious team of architects and structural engineers are behind the project. They recently started a crowdfunding campaign to build the fictional city from the J.R.R. Tolkien novel and visualized by Peter Jackson in the film. The project would require about $2.82 billion. Any money remaining would be used to maintain and preserve the site, which is expected to keep standing until 2053.
They have 60 days to come up with the funds. To encourage more people to donate to their cause, the team offered a number of attractive rewards. Donating $155,800 will provide the donor with the title of Lordship or Ladyship of the City. A donation of $4.70 will result to a follow from @realiseminas on Twitter. Currently, the team has raised over $120,000 with 44 days left to come up with the balance.
“We believe that, in realising Minas Tirith, we can create not only the most remarkable tourist attraction on the planet, but also a wonderfully unique place to live and work,” the group wrote on their Indiegogo page.
The team admitted that they love Tolkien’s work and that by building Minas Tirith, they can create the most remarkable tourist attraction in the world, as well as offer a unique place for people to live and work. The project will feature both residential and commercial properties, which will sustain the city as well as promote quality of life among residents. The residential properties would be arranged by tier, size and quality. Tiers would vary from 1 to 5, size varies from 1 to 4 bedrooms, and quality varies from 2 to 5 stars. For example, a 2.4.4 property would mean that the place will be located on the second tier of the city, have a 4-star quality and feature four bedrooms, which would be ideal for an entire family.
If the crowdfunding campaign is successful, the team would start working on Minas Tirith by the end of 2016 and the project would be finished in 2023. They are currently considering two locations in southern England for the grand city. They added that they are not claiming the image or name of Minas Tirith and would cancel the project if any dispute surfaces over it.
In the meantime, Telegraph reported that another campaign launched by Orc fans has also started, aiming to raise about $1.57 million to recreate the Orc siege of the fictional city of Minas Tirith.