Noah's s Ark causing trouble.
Offline A fictional boat that mirrors the Epic of Gilgamesh tale and people BELIEVE IT ! OH WOW !
Anyway. a particular "creationist amusement park group" (what an ominous sounding name) wants MILLIONS of tax dollars and tax breaks to sell the drama to all the visitors that wish to come and see a demonstration of this event that never took place. Check it out
http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=13589609
Plan's announced for Noah's Ark in North Kentucky
FOX 19 NEWS CINCINATTI
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear officially announced Wednesday that a full-scale Noah's Ark-themed tourist attraction is coming to northern Kentucky.
'Ark Encounter' is scheduled to open in Spring 2014.
Ark Encounter is partnering with Answers in Genesis, which owns the Creation Museum in Petersburg.
"We are excited to join with the Ark Encounter group as it seeks to provide this unique, family-friendly tourist attraction to the Commonwealth," said Gov. Beshear.
Multiple sites are being considered, although property in Grant County off I-75 is at the top of the list.
A feasibility study conducted by the renowned America's Research Group has indicated that the Ark Encounter may attract 1.6 million visitors in the first year and is expected to employ up to 900 full- and part-time staff.
The for-profit Ark Encounter project will be privately funded at an estimated cost of $150 million. The final site selection for the Ark Encounter is subject to the ability to acquire all of the land needed for the project, and the approval of certain state and local incentives and other assistance for the project.
"We are very pleased to be a part of this new project," said Ken Ham, president and founder of AiG and the Creation Museum. "AiG has been blessed to see the Creation Museum host over one million guests in three years. Based on our experience and success operating the large, state-of-the-art Creation Museum, our board believes the time is right to partner with the Ark Encounter in building a full-scale Noah's Ark. We hope that this fun and educational complex called the Ark Encounter will become another popular tourist destination for the state."
In addition to the full-size Ark, the complex will include a Walled City much like was found in ancient times, live animal shows, a children's interactive play area, a replica of the Tower of Babel with exhibits, a 500-seat 5-D special effects theater, an aviary, and a first-century Middle Eastern village. The complex will also include a Special Events Area for large gatherings, highlighting some of the Leader in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building techniques used to construct the Ark Encounter.
One of the factors in getting the Ark Encounter to launch the Ark project at this time was a November 2009 CBS News survey, which revealed that the remains of Noah's Ark would be the greatest archaeological discovery of our day.
"Noah's Ark continues to capture the imagination of the general public, and this interest spans all social, religious and economic segments," the report said. "The Ark and the flood is one of the few historical events which are well known in the worldwide global circle."
Ark Encounter will have virtually the same team that designed and built the Creation Museum, and have these same staff design a full-scale Noah's Ark.
Michael Aldridge, a spokesman for the ACLU in Kentucky, issued the following statement: "While it does not appear that this proposed tax incentive structure would violate the Establishment Clause as it has been construed by the courts, the wisdom of such a proposal can be called into question when Kentucky continues to struggle in providing adequate funding for our existing education system."
A similar park was built in Hong Kong, called Ma Wan Park Noah's Ark.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
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http://www.whas11.com/news/local/Controvery-overNoahs-Ark-amusement-park--111467774.html
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – Construction has yet to begin on the northern Kentucky faith-based amusement park and already the initiative has thrust Kentucky into the national spotlight. The project is called “Ark Encounter” and the governor's decision to give the group developing the park millions of dollars in tax breaks is taking a lot of criticism; specifically whether Governor Steve Beshear can legally offer tax incentives to the faith-based park. I caught up with Governor Beshear Tuesday and he says the decision is legally sound.
"We did a thorough analysis of the law, obviously, before we encouraged the application to be put in, and there's nothing remotely unconstitutional about this because these kinds of incentives are open to any type of theme park that wants to come and apply, " says Governor Steve Beshear.
The incentives would essentially be a refund of sales taxes collected on the tickets to the park and other items sold there. The Beshear adminstration and the group developing the park says it legally qualifies under the Kentucky Tourism Develoment Act.
"There's nothing that should discriminate against us, so it is a profit venture with a nonprofit component involving our ministry here that will be designing and operating the park when it opens," says Mark Looy with the Creation Museum.
The Ark Encounter development is a for-profit project, which qualifies for the tax incentives. The full scale Noah's Ark itself will be built at a cost of $24.5 million by the nonprofit 'Answers for Genesis' which operates the Creation Museum. In all, the construction project will employ 900 people and is expected to attract 1.6 million visitors in its first year.
"Here we are on private property, privately funded. You would think in America you would be able to build something without opposition. We thought this opposition would rear its head with the Ark Encounter because it does deal with a theme from the Bible's Old Testament," says Looy.
Governor Steve Beshear says despite the criticism and controversey, his decision comes down to jobs. "I'm not arguing with them over religion or religion issues. My whole point here is that people in this state didn't elect me to argue issues about religion. They elected me to create jobs for our people and that's what we are doing," says Gov Beshear.
The groundbreaking on the new amusement park will begin next year and be completed in 2014.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/region_northern_kentucky/Noah%27s-Ark-theme-park-faces-rough-waters
The Creation Museum unveiled more details Wednesday surrounding its proposed Noah's Ark theme park in Williamstown, Ky.
It could bring 900 jobs and $150 million in development to Northern Kentucky, but some are questioning the state's motives to bring the museum's Ark Encounter theme park to Grant County.
The Noah's Ark theme park is already facing some rough waters over a question of separation of church and state.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said state attorneys have researched the issue and doesn't see it being a problem.
"We have reviewed this from a legal standpoint and the application complies with our laws. There's nothing that's even remotely, unconstitutional about a for-profit organization coming in and investing a $150 million to create jobs in Kentucky and bring tourism to Kentucky," Beshear said during a Wednesday morning press conference at the state capitol in Frankfort.
Williamstown is the first choice for developers Ark Encounter LLC and the people behind the Creation Museum, Answers in Genesis.
"This location is within 2/3 of the U.S. population one-day drive. The second is we believe that Kentucky may be the most aggressive state right now as far as giving incentives to come to the state," explained Cary Summers, a consultant on the project from the Nehemiah Group.
Williamstown and Grant County leaders said the region really needs new development to boost its economy.
"Grant County is a small, little county. Population is about 25,000. Our unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent of those that we can recognize. To bring the jobs and opportunity that this project is coming to our town and our community just extends my Thanksgiving week another week," said Grant County Judge Executive, Darrell Link.
The theme park's feature attraction is a full-size replica of Noah's Ark, which will span the length of two football fields and stand three stories high. There will also be a replica of the Tower of Babel, live animals, and an interactive children's play area.
"Going to try to use as many local companies and businesses and as much local material as possible through the construction and operation to keep our carbon foot print low and really support the local environment and local economy," explained Mike Zovath with Answers in Genesis.
Grant County is the first choice for the project, but developers said they still have to acquire all of the land and get the tax incentives approved by the State of Kentucky before breaking ground on the park in June of 2011.
Developers said they currently have options to acquire the property for the 800-acre theme park off of I-75 at exit 154.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
I need to edit a spelling error and a couple of sentence on the original post. Yet, at the bottom of it, I don't see the option to edit.
Yes, I should have proofread before I did anything, but that is what I get for watching television and typing on the computer at the exact same time.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
It's pretty ironic how a guy that pushes creationism looks like the 'missing link':
Evidence for evolution.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
Well, it's a commercial venture, and states frequently grant tax benefits and even sometimes some funding to companies to bring jobs and commerce into the state. As long as they grant the same sorts of benefits to other companies, it doesn't violate the establishment clause for it to have a Noah's arc theme, a jungle theme, or a mars theme. Are they giving this corporation something special?
That said, I don't necessarily agree with the establishment clause in that regard- when a state spends money on education, anti-educational ventures like this should be taxed, not treated equally to something that is educationally neutral or positive.