Ark Encounter facts for kids
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Noah's Ark at Ark Encounter (2016)
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| Slogan | "It's bigger than imagination" |
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| Location | Grant County, Kentucky, United States |
| Theme | Noah's Ark |
| Owner | Ark Encounter, LLC |
| Operated by | Answers in Genesis |
| Opened | July 7, 2016 |
| Operating season | Year-round |
| Visitors per annum | 862,471 - 1 million (July 2017–June 2018) |
| Status | Open |
Ark Encounter is a Christian religious and creationist theme park that opened in Grant County, Kentucky in 2016. The centerpiece of the park is a large representation of Noah's Ark based on the Genesis flood narrative contained in the Bible. It is 510 feet (155 m) long, 85 feet (26 m) wide, and 51 feet (16 m) high.
Ark Encounter is operated by Answers in Genesis (AiG), a young Earth creationist (YEC) organization that also operates the Creation Museum 45 miles (70 km) away in Petersburg, Kentucky. The theme park promotes pseudoscientific young Earth creationist beliefs about the age of the universe, age of the Earth, and co-existence of man and non-avian dinosaurs.
After feasibility studies projected that the park would be a boon to the state's tourism industry, the Ark Encounter received tax incentives from the city, county, and state to induce its construction. This drew criticism from groups concerned with the separation of church and state. A dispute over AiG's hiring practices was adjudicated in U.S. federal court, which found in 2016 that the organization could require Ark Encounter employees to sign a statement of faith as a condition of their employment, prompting criticism of the park's discriminatory hiring practices.
Contents
Visitor experience
The ark contains 132 bays, each standing about 18 feet (5.5 m) high, arranged into three decks. Visitors enter on the lowest deck and move between decks on ramps constructed through the center of the ark. Bays on the first deck contain models of some animals that AiG believes could have been on the ark; there are no live animals within the exhibit though there is a petting zoo on the grounds. The models are meant to represent "kinds" of animals, which AiG says gave rise to modern animals after the flood. Prior to the Ark's opening, media outlets reported it would feature models of dinosaurs and "Biblical unicorns".
The second deck contains more animal models, along with dioramas of Noah's workshop and a blacksmith. Bays on the third deck contain displays presenting what AiG believes might have happened inside and outside the ark during the flood. Displays in three of the bays include artifacts from the Green Collection and promote the Museum of the Bible, a Washington, D.C. attraction constructed by the Green family, who donated to the Ark Encounter's construction. RoadsideAmerica.com rated the displays depicting the sinful state of the world before the flood, including a priest sacrificing an infant to an unnamed snake god and people fighting a giant and a dinosaur in a gladiatorial arena, as among the most memorable exhibits in the attraction.
The ark is held 15 feet (4.6 m) off the ground by a series of concrete towers. The starboard side of the hull merges into three 80-foot (24 m) masonry towers containing stairwells, elevators, and restrooms.
Emzara's Kitchen, a two-story, buffet-style restaurant located within the park, has a capacity of 1,500 guests, making it one of the largest restaurants in the world.
History
Planning
On December 1, 2010, the young Earth creationism group Answers in Genesis (AiG) and the for-profit corporation Ark Encounter, LLC announced that they would partner to build a theme park called Ark Encounter that, as they claimed, would "lend credence to the biblical account of a catastrophic flood and to dispel doubts that Noah could have fit two of every kind of animal onto a 500-foot-long ark". The partners projected that the fully completed park would cost $150 million, which they intended to raise privately.
Under a program enacted by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2010, Ark Encounter investors applied for Economic Development Incentives that would allow them to recoup 25 percent of the project's construction costs by keeping a portion of the park's sales taxes during its first ten years of operation. Receipt of the incentives would be contingent upon Ark Encounter meeting established performance goals upon opening. A press release from Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's office cited a feasibility study commissioned by Ark Encounter, LLC and conducted by consumer research corporation America's Research Group Limited, Inc. The company had also conducted the feasibility study for AiG's Ark Encounter and an attitudinal survey included in Ken Ham's book Already Gone; ARC founder C. Britt Beemer was credited as a co-author of the book. This projected the park could employ 900 people, attract as many as 1.6 million visitors in its first year of operation, and generate a $214 million economic impact for the region. The group selected an 800-acre (320 ha) parcel near Interstate 75 in Grant County, Kentucky, near the city of Williamstown and about 45 miles (70 km) from AiG's Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.
The city of Williamstown designated a 1.25-mile (2.01 km) radius around the Ark Encounter site as a tax increment financing district, meaning 75 percent of sales and property taxes collected in the district would return to Ark Encounter for a period of 30 years. Employees working in the district would also pay a 2 percent employment tax over the same time frame that would go to the Ark Encounter. The Grant County Industrial Development Authority paid Ark Encounter, LLC $195,000 to compensate the corporation for the fact that word of their interest in building the attraction in Grant County had leaked early, causing land prices to double in the area. Further, the Grant County Fiscal Court discounted the sale price of 100 acres (40 ha) of the site to influence the final selection. Citing the proffered incentives, Ark Encounter, LLC made the Grant County site their final selection and scheduled groundbreaking for August 2011. Plans for additional phases of the park include a model of the Tower of Babel, along with replicas of an ancient walled city and a first-century Middle Eastern village.
Purchase of site
Ark Encounter, LLC finalized the purchase of the entire Ark Encounter site in February 2012. At that time, AiG announced the decision to construct the park in phases, saying it had raised only $5 million of the $24 million needed to begin construction. The first phase included a full-scale model of Noah's Ark and a petting zoo. Plans for five subsequent phases included replicas of an ancient walled city, a first-century Middle Eastern village, and the Tower of Babel; an aviary; and a 500-seat special effects theater.
In December 2013, the city of Williamstown offered $62 million using tax increment financing of bonds to jump-start construction on the Ark Encounter. The unrated bonds were backed by the Ark Encounter's projected future revenues, but the city was not liable for repaying them in the event that the revenues didn't materialize. At the time of the offering, Ark Encounter, LLC had raised approximately $14 million toward construction of the park. A group of atheist objectors to the Ark Encounter attempted to disrupt the offering by registering for the sale themselves and conducting a public relations campaign against the bonds. In early January 2014, only $26.5 million in bonds had been sold; if at least $55 million in bonds were not sold by February 6, all of the bonds would be automatically redeemed. On February 27, 2014, AiG founder Ken Ham announced that his February 4 debate on the viability of creationism with TV personality Bill Nye "the Science Guy" had spurred bond sales, and that the Ark Encounter had raised enough money to begin construction. AiG officials said the final cost of the park at its opening exceeded $100 million, including $62 million from the Williamstown bond offering and $36 million from individual donations. The second phase of the park construction is projected to commence in 2018 or 2019.
The 2014 Kentucky General Assembly allocated $1.15 million to Grant County for road improvements to accommodate the heavier traffic expected to be generated by the Ark Encounter. The Assembly also projected the need for $9.1 million in 2017 to improve the Interstate 75 interchange at Williamstown, but this allocation was beyond the scope of the state's two-year road funding plan. The 2016 General Assembly allocated $10 million to create a new interchange between Kentucky Route 36 (KY 36) and Interstate 75. Until the improvements are completed, AiG is paying for workers to direct traffic on KY 36 near the Ark Encounter. After the initial allocation by the state, AiG invested $500,000 of its own money into improving KY 36; this, and better-than-expected traffic flow, led to the Kentucky Department of Transportation scaling back the proposed improvements, awarding a $3.5 million contract in December 2017. The project is projected to be completed November 2, 2018.
In July 2014, with the approved tax incentives set to expire if work on the park had not begun, Ark Encounter withdrew the approved application and filed a new one to receive incentives on the $73 million first phase. The new application required a new feasibility study to be conducted. AiG paid for the study, again conducted by Hunden Strategic Partners, which projected a more conservative 400,000 visitors a year, 787 new jobs, and a $40 million economic impact. Shortly after the application was given preliminary approval by the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority, Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo said he believed the incentives to be unconstitutional; he added that he expected the state to be sued and lose a costly lawsuit over the issue.
Design and construction
Cary Summers, who headed Herschend Family Entertainment from 1992 to 1998, was hired as the lead consultant for the Ark Encounter. Patrick Marsh, who helped design exhibits for the Creation Museum and previously designed attractions for Universal Studios Florida, was part of the planning and design team. The Troyer Group, a construction firm in Mishawaka, Indiana, was contracted to oversee construction of the ark, which was constructed by Amish builders using traditional timber framing techniques. In total, over 1,000 craftsmen were employed in the ark's construction. As possible, board pulling was used rather than steaming. Steel nails were used to conform with building code regulations.
While the builders originally planned to hold the ark together with wooden pegs, modern building codes required the builders to use steel fasteners, thus 95 tons of metal plates and bolts were used to connect the wood together. The electric lighting inside was designed to look like oil lamps. According to AiG, the Ark Encounter is the largest timber frame structure in the United States.
AiG considered twelve different possible lengths for the biblical cubit, and AiG chose to use a length of 20.1 inches (51 cm); this produced plans for an ark measuring 510 feet (155 m) long, 85 feet (26 m) wide, and 51 feet (16 m) high. The Ark Encounter consists of approximately 3,300,000 board feet (7,800 m3) of wood. The framing of the ark consists mostly of Englemann spruce, while the exterior is made of pine; some of the logs were as long as 50 feet (15 m) long and 36 inches (91 cm) in diameter.
The park's structures and infrastructure were constructed using environmentally friendly Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified methods, including geothermal heating, rainwater capture, active and passive solar heating. The Washington Post wrote that the decision to use such techniques was exemplary of "a fundamental shift in how religiously conservative Christians think of two basic biblical ideas: dominion and stewardship". Construction crews began clearing timber from the site late in 2012 in order to remove the shagbark hickory trees before the endangered Indiana bats migrated to the area to nest in them. Much of the wood used to build the Ark Encounter was sourced from renewable forests or trees infested by beetles. During construction, former President Jimmy Carter toured the Ark Encounter, accepting an invitation from LeRoy Troyer, president of the Troyer Group.
Opening
Ark Encounter opened on July 7, 2016, a date (7/7) chosen to correspond with Genesis 7:7: "And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood." AiG also announced that, for the first 40 days and 40 nights of Ark Encounter's operation – an allusion to the inundation period (rain and subterranean hydrological eruptions) of the biblical flood – it would extend its hours of operation, offering day and evening tickets. On July 5, AiG held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Ark Encounter, during which members of the media and an estimated 7,000 donors to the project were given an early tour of the ark. According to the park's publicists, there were 30,000 visitors in its first six days of operation (an average of 5,000 per day).
Subsequent events
The Tri-State Freethinkers has protested annually at the Ark Encounter on the anniversary of its opening, citing its hiring practices, anti-evolution teachings, and acceptance of state tax incentives as causes for protestors' concerns. Local media coverage estimated the size of the 2018 protest to be between 120 and 200 people.
In December 2016, for the holiday season, AiG lit the Ark with rainbow colors, the purpose being to "reclaim the symbol from the gay rights movement" and remind viewers of the Noahic covenant. In February 2017, Ken Ham announced AiG would permanently continue the rainbow lighting. Permanent lights were installed in July 2017. AiG also plans to open a "Rainbow Garden" near the petting zoo where flowers create a rainbow display.
In November 2017, construction began on a 2,500-seat theater on the park's grounds. The theater was originally projected to be completed in time to host the "Equipping Families to Stand" conference, scheduled for July 18, 2018, but construction has been delayed, and the building is now projected to open before the end of 2018. AiG also announced a new children's play area scheduled to open in spring 2019 and an expansion to the petting zoo projected to open by mid-2019.
The Ark Encounter's dispute with the FFRF that began upon the former's opening continued, with the latter sending letters to 1,000 school districts surrounding the attraction after AiG offered free admission to school trips.
In May 2019, Ark Encounter filed a federal lawsuit against its five insurance carriers for not covering nearly $1 million in damages from roadway failure subsequent to rain. According to the lawsuit, an access road was damaged by heavy rains in 2017 and 2018, which caused a landslide. Insurance companies cited an exclusion for correcting design deficiencies or faulty workmanship. The suit asked for compensatory and punitive damages. The ark itself was not damaged in the incident, and the attraction remained open to visitors. The insurance company, Allied World, applied to separate the "breach-of-contract" claims from the "bad-faith claims" but the court rejected the request. The case was settled in August 2020 when lawyers for both sides requested that the case be dismissed. Settlement details were not made public.
Pursuant to an executive order from Kentucky governor Andy Beshear closing all non-essential businesses in the state, Ark Encounter was temporarily closed on March 17, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. During the closure, AiG staff conducted events on Facebook Live, but no visitors were allowed in the park, and many of its staff members were temporarily laid off. After Beshear lit the governor's mansion with green lights as a show of solidarity and compassion for the victims of COVID-19, AiG lit the Ark Encounter green as well. Upon reopening on June 8, AiG limited the number of visitors allowed in the park to one-third of its capacity to facilitate social distancing and observed other sanitation guidelines recommended by the state of Kentucky.
In August 2020, Ark Encounter officials announced it would host a Christian music festival the following year that would last "40 days and 40 nights."
In the media
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On October 22, 2016, the Ark Encounter hosted the premiere of evangelist Ray Comfort's film The Atheist Delusion.
Ozzy Osbourne and his son, Jack, visited the Ark Encounter in April 2017 to film an episode of their reality television series Ozzy & Jack's World Detour. The episode, entitled "Kentucky Fried Osbournes", aired on A&E on November 29, 2017.
Ark Encounter was designated the "Sight of the Week" for January 1–7, 2018, by Doug Kirby's RoadsideAmerica.com. The site gave Ark Encounter its highest rating ("The Best"), noting, "the Ark is an attraction that should be visited -- if only because it's unlikely that you'll ever visit anything else like it." The review characterized the ark as "a very nuts-and-bolts American Ark, with Noah and his clan in the mold of self-sufficient Pilgrims and innovative pioneers" (emphasis in original).
On February 17, 2020, PBS aired a documentary about the Ark Encounter entitled We Believe in Dinosaurs. The filmmakers stated that their intention was to produce "a non-judgmental look at the Ark Encounter and its history", but upon release, Ken Ham called the film "an agenda-driven propaganda piece that does not rise to the level of a real documentary".
The Ark Encounter was chosen as the Best Religious Museum in the 2020 USA Today/10Best.com Readers Choice Awards; its sister attraction, the Creation Museum, was ranked second.
Attendance
AiG initially predicted yearly attendance for the attraction of 1.4-2.2 million people. After a year of operation, AiG reported attendance of about 1 million, attributing the lower number to opening in the middle of tourist season.
On February 24, 2017, Executive Director of the Grant County Chamber of Commerce Jamie Baker stated that the Ark had drawn additional tourism to the area, and that the challenge now was to expand accommodation and other local amenities in order to convert this into economic growth for the county. In March, the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau presented the Ark Encounter with its Star of Tourism award for 2016. Bureau President Eric Summe reported a $23 million increase in visitor spending in nearby Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties in 2016 over 2015, the year that the region hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game; Summe attributed a large part of the increase in spending and hotel occupancy to the opening of the Ark Encounter and an expansion of its sister attraction, AiG's Creation Museum. In June 2017, Mayor Jim Wells of Dry Ridge, Kentucky stated that the Ark Encounter had a positive effect on the town, with hotel occupancy rates increasing from 60 to 98 percent since the opening of the attraction. In July 2018, Nashville-based Athena Hospitality Group broke ground on a hotel and restaurant development in Dry Ridge, citing the need for more accommodations for Ark Encounter visitors as the motivation. The planned development will accommodate three hotels and three restaurants, with the first hotel, an 80-room Comfort Suites projected to open in the third quarter of 2019.
At the end of Ark Encounter's second year, AiG reported an attendance of 1 million visitors for the year. Subsequently, The Courier-Journal reported that the Freedom From Religion Foundation had disputed those numbers based upon data obtained through open records requests made to Grant County. According to the Foundation, the amount of money collected by the Grant County via its safety assessment fee on ticket sales indicated that only 862,471 people visited the attraction between July 2017 and June 2018. In response, AiG spokesman Mark Looy told the paper that this method for calculating attendance was not reliable because it did not include non-paying guests such as children under 5, annual pass holders, and those with lifetime passes, all of whom are admitted to the park for free. Because the city of Williamstown based their annual budget on AiG's attendance projections, the city was forced to readjust its budget downward when the number of paying guests fell short of 1 million.
In 2020, Skinner noted that Ark attendance had been averaging about ten percent higher than the city had forecast until its temporary closure due to COVID-19. At the end of the fiscal year, revenue from the safety assessment fell twenty percent short of projections.
Images for kids
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The Ark Encounter at night, December 2021
