The Swiss Edelweiss Village Foundation, the institution behind the push to save the historic Swiss Village on the outskirts of Golden, has secured the property and has launched a crowdfunding campaign today (April 13).
The crowdfunding will help formally purchase the property to preserve it.
The deadline to come up with the funding has been set for mid-July for the first deposit, and mid-December for the purchase.
The campaign features a GoFundMe page, as well as a ‘Swiss Guides’ NFT collection. The GoFundMe goal is set at $2,300,000, with $900 raised to date from 10 donations.
The digital art collection is inspired by the Swiss Guides mountaineer look. Each NFT purchase comes with an original art piece associated with one of the 10,000 symbolic plots of the village.
To help offset the carbon footprint generated by blockchain technology, the foundation has partnered with the Blockchain for Climate Foundation.
“It’s exciting to see that our actions are making an impact,” said Dr. Ilona Spaar, one of the two Swiss-Canadians who has been organizing the push to save the village.
“We are thrilled to move into the next phase of our strategic plan,” said Dr. Johann Roduit, another of the organizers behind the movement.
“Creating a digital art collection using blockchain technology is very exciting. It brings innovation to the world of history and culture and is built on the innovative legacy of the Swiss mountain guides.”
The first phase of saving the Swiss village involved an awareness campaign, which successfully resulted in the National Trust For Canada recognizing Edelweiss Village as one of the Top 10 Endangered Places for 2022.
The Edelweiss Swiss Village is comprised of six Swiss-inspired homes, on a 50-acre property, which was constructed between 1910 and 1912 for the Swiss Guides.
The guides were brought to Golden to guide tourists through Rogers Pass, Banff and Lake Louise.
The property first went up for sale in early 2021.
