Aussie behind bizarre and ‘scary’ life-size replica of Noah’s Ark

IT’S been called “sickening” by scientists but an Aussie creationist is leading the charge to build a giant Noah’s Ark. And the reason for it is bizarre.

A MASSIVE Noah’s Ark replica the length of two football fields and five storeys high is set to become the centrepice of a Christian-themed amusement park.

A group of Kentucky creationists called Answers in Genesis is constructing the life-sized replica of the ark hoping it will be the largest timber-frame structure in the world.

The mammoth task is expected to cost $40 million, but you can’t put a price on faith say those responsible.

The ark is due to be finished by 2016.

The ministry has fought tooth and nail to bring its creation to life after conceiving the idea five years ago.

But after extensive fundraising and ongoing legal battles with the state of Kentucky, they’ve finally been able to begin construction on what they hope will be the centrepiece of their Christian-themed amusement park.

Those behind the project have been frequently mocked with some calling the creationist idea – set to feature dinosaurs alongside Noah and his animals – “scary”.

While such ostentatious displays of the Christian faith might be expected in America’s bible belt, it’s actually an Australian ex-pat who played an instrumental role in the project.

Creation Museum founder and president of the Answers in Genesis ministry, Ken Ham, originally from Queensland, has been the driving force behind the Ark Encounter project. He believes a 2014 debate he had with TV personality and science communicator Bill Nye helped raise support for the building of the ark.

Mr Nye, however, said he was “heartbroken and sickened for the Commonwealth of Kentucky” that the project was going ahead.

The ark will suspended on 102 concrete piers.

Australian born Ken Ham, co-founder of answers in Genesis and president of the Creation museum.

Along with the vessel there will be a slew of hand made animals and even dinosaurs that will feature in the ark — something which has been a great source of derision from science advocates.

But those carrying out the project believe they’ve got evidence on their side and think Noah’s Ark could’ve been home to up to 16,000 animals.

“With Noah being over 500 years in age, it would make sense that he had the knowledge to be able to incorporate automatic feeding and watering systems where they only had to be refilled occasionally,” an Answers in Genesis researcher told Curbed.com.

But criticism and public backlash against the creationist amusement park has been quite fierce. So much so that the ministry hired billboards with a picture of the ark alongside the text: “To all our intolerable liberal friends; Thank God you can’t sink this ship”.

“They think the construction (of Noah’s ark) took about 100 years,” said LeRoy Troyer, the project’s lead architect. “So Noah had to have a lot of faith.”

One of the many animals that will adorn the ark.

Artist impression of the finished result.

One the meticulously designed animals for Noah’s ark.

The ginormous vessel is being built with a technique called timber framing, which uses wooden pegs and joints in lieu of nails, reports Curbed.com.

The bulk of the manpower will be provided by Amish carpenters from Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania and will be built to the scale of the biblical original.

According to Ark Encounter’s website, the final product will use the equivalent of more than 1000 kilometres of wood made up of planks 2.5cms thick and 30cms wide. Within the ship will be 95 tons of steel plating and connectors while the top of the suspended ark’s sail will reach 31 metres above the ground.

In addition to the giant replica, the amusement park will feature a Walled City, the Tower of Babel, a first-century Middle Eastern village, a walk-through aviary and a petting zoo and “a journey in history” from Abraham to the parting of the Red Sea.

It’s slated to opened sometime next year.

So who is the target market? Quite a lot of Kentuckians evidently. The company building the ship has so far raised $27 million in donations to aid the park’s construction.