'I think a lot of people are waiting to invest because they want to see if after the flash and bang of the opening, what happens next.'Īnswers in Genesis points to the success of the Creation Museum as proof of the ark's potential. 'We've not seen the hotels, we've not seen the restaurants coming in to support this attraction,' he says. He remembers sitting in foreclosure settlements almost every week.Īccording to the study cited by Answers in Genesis, the ark's economic impact will be about $4 billion over the next decade. Local lawyer Bill Adkins says when the recession hit Williamstown, it hit hard. News of the Ark Encounter has sparked a rehab of the old brick buildings on Main Street in Williamstown, Ky.

The ark offers three decks of exhibits so sophisticated, you might think you stepped into Disney World. The ark attraction has been mired in controversy for years, and though Answers in Genesis promises jobs and increased tourism to a region in desperate need of an economic boost, for many who live there, it's very much a mixed blessing. It's the same group that opened the Creation Museum in 2007 in Petersburg, Ky., which promotes a literal interpretation of the Bible and other teachings: that planet Earth is only 6,000 years old and that man lived alongside dinosaurs. 'The Bible indicates the original Ark was 300 cubits, using the Hebrew royal cubit that calculates in modern-day terms to 510 feet long,' says Mark Looey, a co-founder of Answers in Genesis, the Christian ministry that built the attraction. The wood structure stands seven stories high and is the length of 1 1/2 football fields. The Ark Encounter is slated to open in Williamstown, Ky., on Thursday, July 7, a nod to Genesis 7:7, which tells the story of Noah and his family entering the ark.Ī replica of Noah's Ark has been built in the rolling hills of northern Kentucky and it is, quite literally, of biblical proportions.

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