The Ark Encounter theme park, a site that accompanies Ken Ham's Creation Museum in using exhibits to promote a young-earth creationist worldview, has been under the eye of church-state separation watchdog group Freedom From Religion Foundation since before construction was completed. Concerns about the park, which depicts Noah's Ark as Ham believes it might have been based in part on Biblical description, have included religious preference expressed in hiring, tax credits, and public school field trips.
Now it seems the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum will be denied visits of another kind: group visits organized by local government groups.
The Christiansburg, Virginia Parks and Recreation Department had arranged a three-day trip to Kentucky, visiting the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, along with an unnamed "mystery adventure." Though the full trip information no longer appears on the city's website, a search of the site still shows previews of the information.
"Ark Encounter and Creation Museum Additional Info: 3-Day Amazing Wonders... : The Ark Encounter & The Creation Museum Petersburg, KY. Trip includes: round trip..., tickets to 'The Creation Museum', 'The Ark Encounter' and also, a 'mystery adventure.'"
Aside from cost and deadlines (participants had until February 28 to sign up), the trip information includes a description of the Ark Encounter park as a way to "experience the pages of the Bible like never before."
Along with dioramas featuring what Noah's family and living quarters might have looked like, the Ark Encounter includes exhibits showing caged dinosaurs on the Ark.
