The Noah’s ark replica at the Ark Encounter museum, which is the size of a fifty-story building, in Williamstown, Kentucky. Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman July 19, 2017

Noah’s Ark was used to save the world’s animals from perishing in a flood. Its to-size replica, opened in 2016, may be used to save its parent organization from paying taxes.

Ark Encounter, a museum with a life-size replica of the biblical Noah’s Ark, is engaged in an escalating dispute with the city council of Williamstown, Kent., where the museum is located, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. Ark Encounter, which had been listed as a for-profit organization since its creation in 2011, recently sold the land on which the massive ark is placed to Answers in Genesis, Inc., the Creationist Christian not-for-profit that created Ark Encounter. In June the museum attempted to claim a religious exemption on a small tax aimed at upgrading the city’s emergency services.

Some Williamstown officials are worried that Ark Encounter will soon declare itself exempt from all taxes.

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“I believe this is the first step,” Williamstown city councilman Kim Crupper told the Herald-Leader. “The impact would be far larger than just Williamstown.”

The museum attracted controversy a year ago after the AP reported that prospective employees at the attraction had to sign a statement of Christian faith and “profess Christ as their savior.”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.

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