Kentucky Creates 900 New Jobs — By Building Noah’s Ark

  • Share
  • Read Later

Problem: high unemployment. Solution: build the ark.

In case you missed it, the governor of Kentucky recently announced the state would, in a few years, be home to a “full-scale replica of Noah’s ark.” It’s going to be the centerpiece of a biblical theme park — or, if you’re a sponsor of the Ark Encounter project, a “historically themed attraction” — that would also feature a Tower of Babel and a first-century Middle Eastern city. Answers in Genesis (the ministry that brought us The Creation Museum) is heavily involved in the $150 million project, which according to the official website “is not an amusement park.” And don’t expect two of every kind of living creature, either. While there will be live animals — as one planner said, “Part of our mission … is to show the feasibility of how Noah would have been able to take care of animals for an extended period of time” — the passenger list hasn’t been finalized.

(See The Top 50 Roadside Attractions.)

Animal logistics and thorny church/state issues aside, the project raises many questions, like, was Noah a millionaire? And, an ark in … Kentucky? Planners expect the development to create some 900 jobs and draw some 1.6 million visitors, but how are faithful tourists on limited budgets supposed to choose between this and Florida’s Holy Land Experience?

NewsFeed loves animals, but, hey, we’d rather visit the Garden of Eden. (via The Telegraph.)