The theme park — dubbed Ark Encounter — is backed by both Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear held a Capitol news conference to announce potential state tax incentives for an amusement park built around a life-size Noah's Ark earlier this month, he cited a feasibility study that predicted the park would attract 1.6 million visitors in its first year. Those numbers were based on a feasability study, commissioned by Ark Encounters LLC — a study that state officials, including Beshear, reportedly never actually saw. Ark Encounter will include all the modern recreation amenities, including: a full-sized wooden ark, a “walled city much like was found in ancient times, a replica of the Tower of Babel with exhibits, a first-century Middle Eastern village” and even outdoor parking. "The state doesn't put in a penny to this project until it is completed, operating, and hitting the agreed-upon performance goals set through the Tourism Development Act," Richardson said. “If they complete the project and it doesn’t perform as well as projected, then the state does not pay a nickel on the deal.” 
 
 So just how trustworthy is a feasability report that no one has seen? Beshear spokesperson Kerri Richardson told the Herald-Leader that the Kentucky Tourism Development Act, under which the park is seeking the tax incentives, will require the state to conduct its own feasability study, which will take about three-and-a-half months. As first reported by the liberal Barefoot and Progressive blog, the feasibility study was conducted by America's Research Group, a Charleston, S.C. consulting and marketing firm run by Britt Beemer, who also co-authored a book with Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham. Beemer told the Lexington-Herald, “When someone asks me to do one of these studies, I’m thorough.” The study involved “behavioral-based research,” which included calling 1,000 people and asking them 147 questions about the theme park. "I think 78 percent of people questioned said they would like to see it; usually when you create a concept like this, you want 48 percent."
– “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.)