LOUISVILLE, Ky. Kentucky has pulled potential tax credits for a proposed Noah's Ark-based theme park, telling the developer on Wednesday that the plans had evolved from a tourist attraction into a ministry seeking to advance religion. 
 
 State tourism officials had given preliminary approval for tax incentives of potentially more than $18 million over 10 years for the Ark Encounter park slated to open in 2016, but later warned the park's parent company, Answers in Genesis, that it could lose them if it hired only people who believed in the biblical flood. 
 
 Answers in Genesis, or AIG, the organization behind Kentucky's "Creation Museum," asks employees to sign a faith statement including a belief in creationism and the flood. 
 
 The park in Williamstown, Kentucky, is not hiring anyone yet, but a lawyer for the project demanded on Monday that the state drop its requirement that jobs be open to anyone. 
 
 Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Bob Stewart told the project's lawyers in a letter on Wednesday that the original development plans had clearly changed and the tax incentives would not be approved. 
 
 "It is readily apparent that the project has evolved from a tourism attraction to an extension of AIG's ministry that will no longer permit the Commonwealth to grant the project tourism development incentives," Stewart wrote. 
 
 Ark Encounter officials referred questions on Wednesday to Freedom Guard, a non-profit legal organization representing them. Chief Counsel Mike Johnson said Ark Encounter was considering filing a lawsuit among other options. 
 
 "It may come to that as a last resort," Johnson said, adding they expected to make a decision within days. 
 
 "We expect the project to continue, but this will be a huge financial loss to the organization," Johnson said. 
 
 Ark Encounter's executive president, Mike Zovath, who is co-founder of Answers in Genesis, said in October that withdrawing the incentives based on the organization's refusal to give written assurances on hiring would violate its rights. 
 
 Plans for the park include a wooden replica of the ark as part of a $73 million initial phase that Zovath said in October had been financed through donations and bonds. He said the tax incentives would help fund additional biblical-themed attractions later. 
 
 (Reporting by Steve Bittenbender; Editing by Peter Cooney) ||||| The Enquirer/Patrick Reddy A rendering of the Ark Encounter, a Noah?s Ark-themed park planned for a site in Grant County in Northern Kentucky. Artist's rendering of the Ark Encounter, a theme park planned in Grant County that will feature a 510-foot-long replica of Noah's Ark. KYXXARKENCOUNTER KY FEBRUARY 21, 2013 Artist's rendering of the Ark Encounter, a Noah's Ark-themed park planned for a site in Grant County. The project, which will feature a 510-foot-long replica of Noah's Ark is being planned by Answers in Genesis, the organization that built the Creation Museum in Boone County. The Enquirer/Patrick Reddy 
 
 The state Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet said in a letter Wednesday that the Ark Encounter theme park has changed its position on hiring policies since it originally filed for incentives in 2010 and now intends to discriminate in hiring based on religion. 
 
 EDITORIAL: No Ark Encounter park tax breaks 
 
 It also said the park has evolved from a tourist attraction into an extension of the ministry activities undertaken by Answers in Genesis, which promotes a literal interpretation of the Bible's old testament and argues that the Earth is only 6,000 years old. 
 
 "State tourism tax incentives cannot be used to fund religious indoctrination or otherwise be used to advance religion," Tourism Secretary Bob Stewart wrote in the letter. "The use of state incentives in this way violates the separation of church and state provisions of the Constitution and is therefore impermissible." 
 
 Officials will "take no further action" on the application, he said. 
 
 Answers in Genesis was seeking approval to participate in a state tax-incentive program that would have let the park keep 25 percent of the sales tax it collects for 10 years, amounting to more than $18 million. 
 
 The $73 million first phase of the Ark Encounter involves building a full-scale, 510-foot wooden replica of the ark in Grant County to present the biblical account of Noah surviving a worldwide flood. 
 
 The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority gave preliminary approval in July but thereafter sought written assurances that project leaders would not discriminate on the basis of religion. 
 
 Without Stewart's recommendation, the application will not go back to the authority for final approval. 
 
 Answers in Genesis, which launched a billboard campaign in Kentucky and New York City this week to counter criticism from "anti-Christian activists," said in a statement that its attorneys are exploring legal options. 
 
 And one of the group's attorneys, James Parsons, sent a letter to the cabinet on Monday arguing that the state's demands on hiring policies violate state and federal law. 
 
 "If you insist on the newly imposed condition... it will amount to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and my client will have no choice but to seek redress in federal court," Parsons wrote. 
 
 The letter describes Ark Encounter as an "overtly religious entity" that is "clearly allowed" under state and federal law to use religious criteria in hiring. It also argues that the state's conditions will impose a burden on the freedom of religion without a compelling government interest. 
 
 Parsons argued that simply allowing Ark Encounter to participate in the incentive program does not amount to endorsing a religious viewpoint or spending state money to further a religious cause. 
 
 But, Alex Luchenitser, associate legal director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said it's unlikely a lawsuit could succeed in federal court. 
 
 He said the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that states can deny taxpayer subsidies to religious groups if officials are concerned that funds will support religious activities. 
 
 "Kentucky is doing the right thing and is respecting the rights of taxpayers to not be forced to subsidize religious indoctrination and discrimination," Luchenitser said. "The state is also respecting the fact that jobs that are going to be supported by state subsidies must be open to all." 
 
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 Meanwhile, Gov. Steve Beshear issued a statement Wednesday reiterating concerns that project leaders plan to use religious beliefs as a "litmus test" for hiring. But he said Wednesday's decision does not prevent the park from being built. 
 
 "On the contrary, Ark Encounter has said publicly that the project will be built regardless of availability of state incentives," he said. "I have no doubt that the Ark Encounter will be a successful attraction, drawing visitors and creating jobs, much like the Creation Museum." 
 
 Answers in Genesis had received a green light from the finance authority in 2011 for its entire $172.5 million project. But, it withdrew the application amid financing troubles and returned this year seeking approval for only the first phase. 
 
 Excavation on the construction site has already begun. 
 
 Answers in Genesis also runs the Creation Museum in Boone County, a 70,000-square-foot operation that asserts that Earth was created in six days and that ancient humans lived alongside dinosaurs. 
 
 Reporter Mike Wynn can be reached at (502) 875-5136. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeWynn_CJ. 
 
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– “Ark Encounter,” the proposed creationist-themed amusement park where kids will be able to explore a 500-foot model of Noah’s Ark, moved a step closer to getting state funding this week, when the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority approved up to $37 million in tax incentives. Those incentives, which have been a bit controversial, would finance as much as 25% of the project, Talking Points Memo reports. The park is getting those incentives because a feasibility study predicted that it would draw 1.6 million tourists to Kentucky in its first year. Of course, that feasibility study was commissioned by Ark Encounters LLC, and, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, state officials haven’t even looked at it. But not to worry—Kentucky’s governor, a major fan of the park, promises that Kentucky will conduct its own study, as required by law, and won't "put a penny to this project until it is completed." (Click to read an argument against the tax incentives.)