Noah’s Ark Loses $18 Million In Tax Breaks “ A Noah’s Ark-themed amusement park in northern Kentucky was denied roughy $18 million in tax incentives on Wednesday, with state officials arguing that the group violates the separation of church and state...

Noah’s Ark Loses $18 Million In Tax Breaks

A Noah’s Ark-themed amusement park in northern Kentucky was denied roughy $18 million in tax incentives on Wednesday, with state officials arguing that the group violates the separation of church and state by intending to discriminate in hiring based on religion.

In 2010, an evangelical Christian group called Answers in Genesis (AiG) began work on a proposed theme park called Ark Encounter, a massive Bible-themed attraction with plans to feature a 500-foot-long wooden replica of Noah’s Ark, a reconstruction of the Tower of Babel, and possibly even dinosaurs, among other exhibits. Although the park is explicitly religious, it enjoyed a deluge of support from the state of Kentucky when it was announced in 2010, with Governor Steve Beshear (D) holding a press conference to endorse the park as a job magnet and the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet initially pledging $43 million in tax breaks for the project’s $173 million construction plan. That amount was eventually reconfigured to $18 million for the project’s “first phase”, and government officials maintained that the park should be treated the same as any other large project in the state — so long as AiG promised not to pick and choose who they hire based on religion.

Over the past few months, however, AiG and Ark Encounter — which are connected to the Creation Museum, also in Kentucky — have reversed course from their initial pledge to comply with the state’s existing nondiscrimination policies. Ark Encounter’s job applications, which were reportedly posted on AiG’s website, stipulate that employees must agree with the group’s fundamentalist religious beliefs, and Ken Ham, famous creationist and head of AiG, has openly stated in fundraising emails that he intends to continue to discriminate based on religion when hiring for the park.

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