The owners of a Noah’s Ark replica in Kentucky are taking their insurer to court, claiming that the agency failed to offer flood damage.
The replica ark is part of an attraction called Ark Encounter, which features a 510-foot wooden ship made to replicate one from the Old Testament story about God telling a man named Noah to build an ark and fill it with two of every animal. A private-access road behind the Ark was damaged from heavy rains in the area resulting in $1 million in damages, CNN reported.
The owners are now suing the company, claiming only a small portion of the insurance monies were paid out. The 77-page lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court, with Ark Encounter seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
A representative from Ark Encounter said the damage, “in no way affected any of the activities at the Ark Encounter, which remains open and visited by large crowds daily.”
Ark Encounter had just opened the Noah’s Ark attraction in 2016, part of a new $92 million theme park built in the middle of a Kentucky farm field, the Courier-Journal reported. The park itself drew some controversy at the time, teaching that the Bible claims the earth is 6,000 years old and that the great flood killed off all the dinosaurs roughly 4,500 years ago — claims that are disputed by science and many other religious groups that do not share the same interpretation of the Bible.
The park’s founder, noted creationist Ken Ham, said he wanted to offer an alternative to secular theme parks.
“More and more, Christians are saying the secular world builds its themed attractions, so why shouldn’t we as Christians build themed attractions to be able to reach people but to get the message out?” said Ken Ham, co-founder and president of Answers in Genesis, the group behind the Ark Encounter as well as the Creation Museum in Kentucky. “That is our primary motive after all.”
The strange circumstances — an ark and rain — of the lawsuit gave the lawsuit some national attention. Many commented on the irony of the replica not being able to withstand the rain when the original ark was meant to make it through 40 days and 40 nights of downpour that left the entirety of the world flooded.
The public relations firm representing Ark Encounters said they were confident that they would get a fair resolution on the matter.
