The project's investors were all from France, and it seems that many of them were or are also involved in the Chateau de Guedelon project. Don't Start an Expensive Project with Out-of-Touch Investors. Maybe this was taken into consideration, but it seems that it would have been wiser to perhaps wait until a time when people would be more willing to part with their hard-earned dollars to visit a castle in progress, especially when there really wasn't much to look at (in the fortress itself) in the first season, with most of the walls less than 2 ft tall, and maybe 8 ft at the highest sections.ĥ. And the Fortress was slated to be built in Lead Hill, Arkansas, smack in the middle of financially-struggling America. But the recession was certainly in full swing in America at that time. The downturn doesn't seem to have been really affecting European economies even when the Fortress opened in 2010. Granted, the project's financiers were from Europe, and the economic downturn hadn't really hit Europe yet when the project began to take shape in 2008. Don't Start a Risky, Multi-Million Dollar Project in the Middle of a Recession. These are the 6 big ideas on what I think was done wrong at the Ozark Medieval Fortress, and how they could be done right, next time.Ħ. In looking back at the way the whole Ozark Medieval Fortress was run, I think there's a lot we can learn, and maybe get it right with a stellar medieval castle-building project somewhere in the future. We are seeking American financial partners." I'd seen a documentary about a similar project, Chateau de Guedelon, in France and thought it was super cool, but thought I'd probably never get to see something like that in person.īut the Ozark Medieval Fortress was only a few hours away, in northern Arkansas! I got to visit once in each in 2010 and 2011, and was hoping to intern there in 2012, but that's when their problems came clearly to the surface in the form of the message which appeared on their website early in 2012: "Opening in 2012 delayed due to financial reasons. It was an ambitious plan to build an entire castle, with towers, walls, and a great hall, using only the methods they would have used in the middle ages. They called it the Ozark Medieval Fortress. Or, How NOT to Build a Medieval Castle in 21st Century America.Īrtist's rendering of the completed Ozark Medieval Fortress, originally projected for 2030Ī few years ago, a team of investors and enthusiasts led by Michel Guyot broke ground on a 20-year building project to construct a 13th century castle in the middle of the USA.
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