A religious theme park? Cool!

I come across across the following article and thought it was so interesting!    The original article is Religious Theme Park.

A full-scale Noah's Ark is to be built as part of a proposed $150 million creationism-themed amusement park in Kentucky.

A theme park version of the Biblical ark will mark the focal point of the tourist attraction, which will also feature a walled city, a replica of the Tower of Babel, a recreation of a first-century Middle Eastern village and a 500-seat special effects theater.

The park, which is being built by Ark Encounter LLC and Answers in Genesis, is expected to draw 1.6 million visitors a year when it opens in 2014.

A theme park version of Noah's Ark will mark the focal point of the tourist attraction, which will also feature a walled city, a replica of the Tower of Babel, a first-century Middle Eastern village and a 500-seat special effects theater.

 Ark Encounter says it will pay the bulk of construction costs by raising about $125 million (£80million), while Answers in Genesis is raising $24.5 million (£15.5million) to pay for the Ark replica.

On the Ark Encounter website, fans of the project can donate $100 (£65) to sponsor a wooden peg; $1,000 (£650) for a plank; or $5,000 (£3200) for a beam.

Announcing yesterday that the green light for the project had been given, Governor of Kentucky Steve Beshear said: 

 'Bringing new jobs to Kentucky is my top priority, and with the estimated 900 jobs this project will create, 

 I am happy about the economic impact this project will have on the Northern Kentucky region.'

The $150 million park is expected to draw 1.6 million visitors a year when it opens in 2014.

This new religious theme park is not the first of its kind in the US.

Just miles from Florida's Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld, you'll find Holy Land Experience, which has been recreating Jerusalem of Biblical times - complete with a reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus six days a week - for the past nine-and-a-half years.

Back in 1978, the now defunct Heritage USA Christian theme park and water park was opened in South Carolina, with features including a Bible and evangelism school, a church and a skating rink.

A man portrays Jesus during a re-enactment of the crucifixion at Holy Land Experience, a Christian-themed attraction in Orlando, Florida.

By 1986 it had become the third most popular vacation destinations in the U.S., attracting nearly six million visitors annually.

Aside from their forthcoming theme park, Answers in Genesis also run another religious attraction called The Creation Museum, which opened three-and-a-half years ago in Petersburg, Kentucky.

The venue, which has had more than 720,000 visitors so far, 'brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings,' according to the official website.

'Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers.  The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.'

My thanks so the person who wrote this article as I doubt I would've heard about the project had it not been for them sharing.

Oh man, would I ever love to go there when it's completed; doesn't it sound like so much fun?!