Hundreds of people across Canada have started donating to a crowdfunding campaign to come up with $50 million to restore Canada's most famous fixer-upper: 24 Sussex Drive.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced long-awaited plans on Friday to restore the gutted official residence, including fundraising as much money as possible to help pay the bill.
But Carney wouldn't say how big that bill could be.
Teresa Marques, the president and CEO of the Rideau Hall Foundation which is leading the national fundraising effort, said on Monday they set a goal of $50 million after talks with the government about the size and scope of the project and past estimates.
"This is really meant to be a bit of a moonshot," Marques told CBC's Ottawa Morning. "Our hope is that we are able to cover all or most of the costs of this project."
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She said any leftover funds would "be repurposed into the project itself going forward."
Over the weekend more than 210 people donated just over $54,000 via the Rideau Hall Foundation's website. The charity said the average donation was more than $250, and that it's capping donations at $5 million per person. This is in addition to new campaign pledges totalling a further $50,000, for a combined total of more than $100,000 raised so far.
It said the campaign will launch more formally later this summer, but people can start donating now.
The estimated cost to restore 24 Sussex has been shrouded in secrecy for years. The RCMP and National Capital Commission have come up with estimates, but redacted all the dollar amounts in documents recently released to CBC News under the Access to Information Act.
Carney said he's seen various estimates for options for the prime minister's official residence, but wouldn't reveal what they say or what the budget is to restore 24 Sussex.
"I don't want to be too forward on what the budget is for this because in many respects that's part of the competition," he said.
The design competition open to Canadian companies and overseen by experts, he said, will include coming up with a budget. But he said the government will cover security costs.
"We've interrogated those security costs to make sure that they're right and made some progress there," Carney said.