Noah's Ark Park Inches Closer to Getting Taxpayer Funding

Creationist attraction gets preliminary OK from Kentucky
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2010 9:42 AM CST
Noah's Ark Park Inches Closer to Getting Taxpayer Funding
A modern-day impression of Noah's Ark, built by Greenpeace volunteers on Mount Ararat in Turkey, is seen in this Thursday, May 31, 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Greenpeace HO)

“Ark Encounter,” the proposed creationist-themed amusement park where kids will be able to explore a 500-foot model of Noah’s Ark, moved a step closer to getting state funding this week, when the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority approved up to $37 million in tax incentives. Those incentives, which have been a bit controversial, would finance as much as 25% of the project, Talking Points Memo reports.

The park is getting those incentives because a feasibility study predicted that it would draw 1.6 million tourists to Kentucky in its first year. Of course, that feasibility study was commissioned by Ark Encounters LLC, and, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, state officials haven’t even looked at it. But not to worry—Kentucky’s governor, a major fan of the park, promises that Kentucky will conduct its own study, as required by law, and won't "put a penny to this project until it is completed." (Click to read an argument against the tax incentives.)

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