The Producers: perhaps Mel Brooks' most chilling film. On the surface, it's a funny parody of showbiz and the Nazis. Under the superficial hilarity, however, lies a sharp warning. If a system exists where money is given out without strings attached, people will exploit it. The two "protagonists" of Mel Brooks' classic decide to produce a musical (Springtime for Hitler) which has no chance of succeeding. The producers' reasoning is that once the production epically fails, they can abscond with the investors' money unnoticed.
Cue the "Ark Encounter" (Kentucky's announced creationist theme park) discussion. Recently, the state government OK'd $43 million in tax incentives to the planned development opportunity, which is set to include a life sized recreation of Noah's famous dinghy, along with a petting zoo and other family friendly fare. There is no way in heck (bad manners to swear in a diary on religion) that this project can succeed.
I guess this is the part where I come out of the closet as a semi-proud Northern Kentuckian.
A lot of people from outside of the area have been promoting the project as job creating and a boost to the flailing Kentucky economy. Thanks to the double threat of the world famous Creation Museum and Arc Encounter, Northern Kentucky will become a premier Christian tourist destination. Hogwash.
In it's first (and so far biggest) year for attendance, the Creation Museum brought in 400,000 visitors. Not too shabby for a museum which rejects scientific fact. I hear that the museum displays are actually quite cool and - ironically - technologically advanced. I've never been, I don't swing that way. The $25 ticket price is also very intimidating, and that's where we begin running into problems.
Arc Encounter is billing itself as a $172 million state of the art theme park. As such, we can presume that it will charge theme park admission prices, which are now upwards of $60. We're talking already about a much more expensive vacation than a trip to the Creation Museum.
Secondly, there is very little to do in the Northern Kentucky area. Apologies to the Kentucky tourism board, but unless you wish to sample the local cuisine (Cracker Barrel) or shop at the local Mom & Pop stores (Walmart), you shouldn't go out of your way to visit Northern Kentucky. Likewise, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Lexington - all at least an hour from the proposed building site - aren't premier tourist destinations. When families plan their dream getaways, the great commonwealth of Kentucky doesn't and shouldn't make the cut. Building a major attraction here makes little sense. There is not enough vacation infrastructure to support it.
Thirdly, Cincinnati has a major theme park. Kings Island may not be the most well known or attended park in the US, but it draws a sizable crowd with its 12 thrill rides, including the longest wooden roller-coaster in the world. Arc Encounter begins at a serious disadvantage; it cannot keep up with the competition. The creationist theme park is set to open up with 0 rides. An amusement park without any rides and little amusement is a tough sell to the average American family.
But let's suppose that against the odds Arc Encounter "succeeds" like its website suggests and brings in the same number of visitors the Creation Museum did its first year. 400,000 visitors. This would be a failure. Even relatively modest theme parks need to pull in millions of visitors in order to continue to operate. When Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville failed to attract over a 1 million visitors, it was shut down.
If Arc Encounter gets made, it will quickly get shut down. However, I doubt it will even make it that far. This project, like "Springtime for Hitler" was made to fail. This creationist monstrosity was made to suck up tax exemptions for the for-profit Answers in Genesis company. Its creators will ride off into the sunset with Kentucky's money while the state's schools suffer.
Sometimes, living in Kentucky is one giant FML.