The Ark’s False Profit
By: David Macmillan
Tags: Science, Religion, Politics, Film, Documentary

In a February 19 opinion in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ken Ham reacted harshly to the documentary’s PBS premiere, calling it “an agenda-driven propaganda piece” and claiming falsely that the directors had somehow misrepresented their intentions for the film. He also criticizes the film’s coverage of the downturn in Williamstown, arguing filmmaker Clayton Brown used “clever camera angles” to give the impression that the theme park hasn’t helped the town. Yet, in a striking turn, Ham went on to admit that the promised benefits to Williamstown never materialized.

“We would be thrilled to see a major economic impact for the town, but that town’s central business area is on the opposite side of the interstate from the Ark Encounter, half a mile from that interstate, and currently has no major hotels or restaurants.”

In other words, it’s Williamstown’s own fault that they’re not benefiting from the Ark’s presence. If they had given Ham land closer to downtown, instead of a whole half-mile away, perhaps the anti-science Ark would be better for them. Surely they never should have expected the promise of tourism to come true. To hear Ken Ham tell it, they were fools to ever trust him.

Ham’s claim is not only insulting, but disingenuous. Far from actively supporting the community that opened its coffers to his organization, Ham has repeatedly acted to enrich the park at the town’s expense. Although the Ark Encounter is incorporated as a for-profit LLC in order to take advantage of tourism tax incentives, Ham has claimed that the non-profit status of the parent company should excuse them from paying city taxes that support firefighting and other essential services. The everyday operation of the attraction precludes visitors from entering Williamstown, since they are required to park off the interstate and take shuttles almost a mile to the actual structure.

When lucrative businesses have opened in the small town, Ham has moved against them as well. In October of 2016, he posted a video about his visit to Shem’s Snack Shack, a small family restaurant that opened outside the Ark property. Within eight months, however, the location had been shuttered, with the business having been moved inside the Ark Encounter park to supplement its outdoor concessions. Museum-goers wrote:

“We left the Ark and our entire van load headed to Shem’s. When we get there, they are closed to the public.”

Image posted by restaurant management, June 2017

“Shortly after my visit, the place closed for the winter. When it re-opened it re-opened on the grounds of the theme park.”

More recently, Ham’s organization has purchased land they evidently intend to use for hotels on the property, further closing off the park’s revenue stream from the surrounding community.

As a science advocate, I take strong issue with the pseudoscience, nonscience, and anti-science fraudulently peddled to families and students by con artists like Ken Ham. Their parody of the scientific method does real harm, bleeding inexorably into education and public policy. The whole-hearted embrace of “alternative facts” and the rejection of plain evidence are making our society more and more polarized. Yet Ken Ham’s treatment of Williamstown is a reminder that these sorts of cult-like organizations have impacts that go much farther than the foolish ideas they promote.