Ken Ham responds: Don’t believe ‘agenda-driven propaganda’ film about Ark Park

I wanted to take the opportunity to comment on two items that have appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader about our Ark Encounter. The first was an article about a film that aired recently on PBS TV that featured our attraction north of Lexington. The Herald-Leader wrote of the theatrical premiere of the film last year, which PBS broadcasted a few days ago. Doubtless many Herald-Leader readers watched it.

We wanted to point out that this “documentary,” entitled “We Believe in Dinosaurs,” was an agenda-driven propaganda piece that focused on dinosaurs and the Ark Encounter. In reality, however, dinosaurs represent a mere fraction of Ark exhibits.

Much of the film was based on old information; filming started in 2013. Originally, we were told by the producers that they were doing a documentary emphasizing the creative side of making museum exhibits. Despite assurances to the contrary, the producers created a heavily biased, error-filled film designed to sway viewers to a specific conclusion and does not rise to the level of a real documentary. In December 2016, a controversial filmmaker joined the project and helped fund it, taking it into a decidedly mocking direction. Subsequently, we revoked their media access and declined any future interviews.

In regard to the film’s focus on Williamstown, producers presented the false idea that the Ark has had no significant economic impact in the entire region. While we wish that Williamstown would see the same benefit that nearby cities like Dry Ridge, Georgetown, and Florence have been experiencing, the producers ignored the Ark’s massive impact and instead focused on one small town that has no major hotels or restaurants and whose struggling downtown is not convenient to interstate drivers.

Filmmakers and other media need only to contact the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau or the Grant County Chamber of Commerce to learn first-hand of the phenomenal economic impact generated by tourism at the Ark Encounter. Northern Kentucky has become the biggest faith-based tourist destination in the USA because of the Ark.

In countering another one of the film’s contentions, we must point out that we did not receive millions of dollars in tax incentives to build the attraction. Instead, the Ark Encounter, like other tourist attractions in the state, was approved to receive (and legally confirmed by a federal court) a rebate of sales tax generated at the attraction after it opened. This rebate of new money generated at the Ark (over 90 percent of guests are from out of state) is only a fraction of all the Ark-related revenue the state receives because of the impact this attraction has had on area hotels, restaurants, stores, etc. Kentucky’s state treasury has seen a huge net gain because of the Ark.

In a second piece (February 24), the Herald-Leader printed a guest column on the Ark that was highly misleading. It claimed the city of Williamstown sold 99 acres to the Ark Encounter for $1. But the sale made perfect sense for the city. You see, the acreage (we have purchased a total of 800 acres) was mostly land that was unbuildable because of uneven terrain. Today, it serves as a buffer in case other projects are built near the Ark. We pay property taxes on these 99 acres. So ultimately, it was smart on the part of the city to give away largely unbuildable land that was not producing tax revenue.

The guest column took a cheap shot by calling our ministry “cult-like,” when in reality a variety of church denominations support us. Also, the city of Williamstown is not on the hook for a $60 million Ark bond that was issued through (but not by) the city.

The column and recent TV program are reminders that those who oppose the Ark Encounter often weave a false story for their own propaganda purposes. We encourage Herald-Leader readers to be discerning about what appears in print or on public television.

Ken Ham is the CEO of Answers in Genesis, an apologetics organization which operates the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Ky.