Creation Museum CEO Ken Ham Posts Video of Enormous Ark Encounter Construction; Notes Atheists May Claim Pictures Photoshopped
Creation Museum CEO and President Ken Ham posted a short video of the Ark Encounter project construction site in Kentucky, noting that a significant amount of the initial work has already been done. Ham expressed that it would be impossible for someone to "grasp the enormity of the project" unless they were there at the site.
"Yesterday I spent a couple of hours at the Ark construction site – amazing to see how much progress has been made. It is virtually impossible for anyone to grasp the enormity of this project unless you can be there and walk around it all," Ham posted in a Facebook message on Tuesday. He shared a short video clip of the construction site, which is aiming to build a life-size replica of the biblical Noah's Ark.
"If you look carefully you can see many vehicles in the distance. There are workers installing sewer lines, water, electricity, and pouring concrete for foundations for the three towers that will anchor the structure and house elevators and restrooms etc," Ham describes.
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"Others are working on the tram road across to the parking area – I was staggered to see how much soil has already been moved for the massive parking lot. A total of around 1.6 million cubic yards of soil is being moved for this project – and most of that has been completed."
In another update, he also posted two photographs of the site showing how it looked before construction began, and how it appears now, well into the project.
"Perhaps some of the atheists that have previously claimed this project will never happen – or even is not happening – may try to claim the photo was done in photoshop or something," said Ham, who is also the President and CEO of Answers in Genesis.
He added that the finished project is expected to be the biggest timber frame building in America.
The Ark Encounter website provides further details and updates about the project, and notes that it is still raising money for its completion. As of Wednesday, a bit over $17.6 million has been raised out of a 29.5 million goal, to which people are able to donate.
Back in December, Ham sought to clarify some controversy surrounding $18 million in tax breaks that the state of Kentucky retracted toward the project. The Creation Museum CEO argued that the new conditions set out by the state that prohibited religious preference in hiring are illegal, and pushed back against media portrayals that his organization has asked the state for money to build the project.
"The state's new conditions are clearly illegal. We can cite both federal and state laws that permit religious preference in hiring, like the 1964 civil rights act. That's why atheist groups can and do discriminate in their hiring," he explained in a video message.
"The state granted its preliminary approval for the incentive. Only after the atheist groups objected and publicly attacked the state's preliminary approval, did the state renege on its commitment."
The Ark Encounter took aim at what it called "intolerant liberals" in a billboard also released in December, proclaiming, "Thank God you can't sink this ship," in reference to the Ark project.
Ham accused the media and secularists of spreading misinformation about the project, and encouraged people "to discover the truth about the Bible-upholding Ark Encounter."
Sixteen of the ads went up across Kentucky, while a digital billboard was also set up at New York's Times Square in time for the holidays.
