Kentucky has reluctantly withdrawn $18 million in tax incentives from Ken Ham's planned Noah's Ark project. According to the state tourism secretary, "Based on various postings on the Answers in Genesis (AIG) and Ark Encounter websites, reports from Ark Encounter investor meetings and our correspondence, it is readily apparent that the project has evolved from a tourism attraction to an extension of AIG’s ministry that will no longer permit the Commonwealth to grant the project tourism development incentives"
It was always a very thin pretense that Ark Encounter was not going to be a means of ministry, but the project's reorganization and refusal to not discriminate in hiring based on religious considerations — something legit for a religious organization — shredded that pretense.
If Ham and Answers in Genesis can get their ministry project constructed through private donations and investment, that is, of course, their prerogative. But they'll have to do it without taxpayer funding. And that's wholly appropriate.
The Lost Ark: Kentucky will not grant tax incentives to Ark Encounter – Insider Louisville
Kentucky’s Tourism Arts & Heritage Cabinet Secretary Bob Stewart informed representatives of the proposed Ark Encounter tourist attraction today that their project will not be eligible for up to $18 million in tax incentives from the state, due to their … Continue reading →
Hopefully, they will never finish the project and leave it half-done, so urban spelunkers can explore it decades from now, thus becoming raiders of the lost park.
"Toss me the Chick's Tract, I'll throw you the whip!"