Friday, December 10, 2010

The tourists went in two by two...Kentucky announces plans to build Noah's Ark theme park

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

A theme park version of Noah's Ark will mark the focal point of the tourist attraction, which will also feature a walled city, a replica of the Tower of Babel, a first-century Middle Eastern village and a 500-seat special effects theatre


Kentucky usually brings to mind bluegrass music, bourbon and the famous derby.

By 2014, however, a full-scale Noah's Ark, based on Biblical dimensions, could be firmly on the tourist map in the US southern state.

The Governor of Kentucky has announced plans for an overhaul of the state's tourism development by constructing a wooden Noah's Ark in a Bible-themed amusement park.

Ark Encounter will feature Noah's Ark as the center piece of the tourist attraction.
It will also include a walled city, a replica of the Tower of Babel, a recreation of a first-century Middle Eastern village and a 500-seat special effects theatre.

The park, which is being built by Ark Encounter LLC and Answers in Genesis, is expected to draw 1.6million visitors a year when it opens in 2014.

Ark Encounter says it will pay the bulk of construction costs by raising about $125 million (£80million), while Answers in Genesis is raising $24.5 million (£15.5million) to pay for the Ark replica.

On the Ark Encounter website, fans of the project can donate $100 (£65) to sponsor a wooden peg; $1,000 (£650) for a plank; or $5,000 (£3200) for a beam.

Announcing yesterday that the green light for the project had been given, Governor of Kentucky Steve Beshear said: 'Bringing new jobs to Kentucky is my top priority, and with the estimated 900 jobs this project will create, I am happy about the economic impact this project will have on the Northern Kentucky region.'


The $150million park is expected to draw 1.6million visitors a year when it opens in 2014


This new religious theme park is not the first of its kind in the US.

Just miles from Florida's Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld, you'll find Holy Land Experience, which has been recreating Jerusalem of Biblical times - complete with a reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus six days a week - for the past nine-and-a-half years.

Back in 1978, the now defunct Heritage USA Christian theme park and water park was opened in South Carolina, with features including a Bible and evangelism school, a church and a skating rink.


A man portrays Jesus during a re-enactment of the crucifixion at Holy Land Experience, a Christian-themed attraction in Orlando, Florida


By 1986 it had become the third most popular vacation destinations in the U.S., attracting nearly six million visitors annually.

Aside from their forthcoming theme park, Answers in Genesis also run another religious attraction called The Creation Museum, which opened three-and-a-half years ago in Petersburg, Kentucky.

The venue, which has had more than 720,000 visitors so far, 'brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings,' according to the official website.

'Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers. The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.'


source: dailymail

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