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Noah’s Ark Replica Gets Genesis-Inspired Opening Date — Is Attraction Harmful?

By Shelley Hazen
Published on: 00:00 PST, Nov 13, 2015

When Noah built his famous Ark, as told in the Bible, he likely didn’t spend $91 million on supplies and labor. But Ken Ham has raised that much money to build his enormous replica of the Biblical ship, an attraction he thinks will become a global phenomenon.

But there are plenty of others who are criticizing the Noah’s Ark attraction, built by an apologetics ministry run by Ham called Answers in Genesis. The attraction will forward a literal interpretation of the Bible and the ministry’s belief that it provides a blow-by-blow account of the creation of the universe, the Courier Journal reported.

Outside that criticism, and not a little controversy generated by the project, the Noah’s Ark attraction is impressive simply in its scale and ambition.

Ken expects his attraction — called Ark Encounter — to draw 1.4 million to 2.2 million people every year to Williamstown, Kentucky, pump $4 billion into the local economy, and lead to 20,000 new tourism jobs after it officially opens on July 7, 2016. The opening date is inspired by the passage in Genesis (chapter seven, verse seven) that recounts the moment Noah stepped onto his Ark.

https://twitter.com/BoingBoing/status/664885962959396864

The Noah’s Ark attraction is being built of Douglas fir and Edelman spruce according to specifications detailed in the Bible: 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high. Right now, construction crews are pouring cement and hoisting timber onto the half-built Ark, beams exposed and bow and stern missing.

It’s only the beginning, according to Ham’s vision.

“It’s going to be the biggest timber-frame building in the world. And I think people will come to see it just from the perspective of even the architecture and the engineering. Out of all the biblical events, probably the ark is the most well-known around the world, which is one of the reasons why it’s going to attract visitors from all over the world, not just Christians. People from all different backgrounds are interested in Noah’s Ark.”

The Noah’s Ark attraction will have a petting zoo, theater, 2,100-seat restaurant, and gift store. When it opens on July 7, 2016, the attraction will be open for 40 days and 40 nights. The majority of the $91.5 million in funds needed to build the Ark has already been raised; they believe the rest will come through membership sales.

While the construction of a Noah’s Ark replica in order to mimic a Biblical experience in real-time (the attraction will include excited, but fake, animals, actors playing Noah, and the simulation of a storm) on its face sounds rather benign, there are some aspects of the project that have ruffled some feathers and led to some serious criticism.

According to Reuters, the ministry was awarded tourism tax incentives by the state worth more than $18 million over a decade. However, while the group has touted the project’s job creation, they would only hire fundamentalist Christians to work on construction. So the state pulled the incentives, and now Ark Encounter is suing the state in federal court.

A Republican governor, Matt Bevin, will take office in 2016 and could single-handedly reinstate the tax incentives. He has expressed support for Ark Encounter’s cause, Fox News added.

The other controversy has more to do with the clash between a literal interpretation of the Bible, which holds that the world is only 6,000 years old and Biblical events occurred as written and science, which has established that the world is 4 billion years old.

Scientist and TV star Bill Nye — who famously debated Ham over creationism — is concerned that the Noah’ Ark attraction will draw young people away from science and towards fundamentalist Christian beliefs. He also refutes the notion that Noah’s Ark would’ve survived the sea.

What do you think? Is the Noah’s Ark attraction harmful? Should it receive state funds? Should it even be built at all? Sound off in the comments.

[Photo By Dylan Lovan / Associated Press]

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