(UPDATE) The boat’s big debut comes five months after the park won up to $18 million in tax breaks.
Update: The Ark Encounter, a six-year, $100 million project by Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis ministry, opened its doors today. The 510-foot long, seven-story high boat is built to biblical proportions and sits on 800 acres in Williamstown, Kentucky.
Thousands came for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, which drew on ancient Hebrew customs of placing 12 stones, releasing doves, and playing a shofar.
“In a world that is becoming increasingly secularized and biased, it’s time for Christians to do something of this size and magnitude,” stated Ham.
Ham said he expects “a large percentage” of visitors will be non-Christians. Answers in Genesis predicts between 1.4 million and 2.2 million visitors will see the ark in the first year, though a consultant for the state earlier calculated that 640,000 was more likely.
Along with 125,000 square feet of exhibits on three decks, the Ark Encounter also includes the Ararat Ridge Zoo, camel and donkey rides, live entertainment, and a 1,500-seat themed restaurant.
Visitors called the park “breathtaking” with “a lot of attention to details.” A group of atheists also turned out to protest.
Ham’s next projects: a replica of a walled city where Noah may have lived and a Tower of Babel.
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[Originally entitled “How Religious Can Tourism Be? Noah’s Ark Park Passes Test” on March 9]
Last month, a federal judge told Kentucky’s tourism board that it can’t kick the Answers in Genesis (AiG) Ark Encounter—a followup to its nearby Creation Museum—out of a tax rebate program for tourist attractions because of its Christian focus.
The Blue Grass State’s program works like this: Potential tourist attractions—those …
