Looks like there was local resistance to the project. Here's a synopsis of the retrospective documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkbArKOxg2w
I found it rather disappointing though. It didn't really go into any detail about what it was supposed to be, just "dude had this idea, got other people to sponsor some research, locals didn't like the idea, also there were funding problems so it never happened".