After years of opposition, court battles and fervent prayer, the Kentucky-based evangelical group Answers in Genesis today unveils the first artist's renderings of its creation museum.

        The drawings give supporters and curious nonbelievers a first look at the ministry's vision for the proposed $14 million, 95,000-square-foot Boone County museum and national headquarters.

Artist's drawing of the new Answers in Genesis center. | ZOOM |

        The museum will present what organizers believe is the simple, factual account of the history of the world as described in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament.

        The Creation Museum and Family Discovery Center will take up 50,000 square feet of the facility, a steel building with a stone exterior. The rest will be used for office space, storage, a radio station and warehouse.

        Inside will be life-sized replicas of dinosaurs, a DNA exhibit, fossils and interactive exhibits.

        “I'm absolutely convinced that with the quality of exhibits and the talent we have ... we really are going to have a national draw for sure,” said Mike Zovath, the organization's general manager.

        The Christian ministry, which promotes the truth and reliability of the Bible beginning with the first verse of Genesis, has received international attention for its outreach. The group has become for many churches and media pundits the primary resource for creation information.

        Even though groundbreaking isn't slated until March, ministry officials are already estimating 50,000 visitors the first year. With publicity from newspapers and television programs around the world, members say there has been a boom in interest.

        Ministry officials hope that kind of attention will draw large numbers of people to hear their message.

        “Our message is to tell people the Bible is true and that people need to respond to the message of Christ, the Christian Gospel,” said Ken Ham, ministry founder and executive director.

        Dr. Charles Wagner, senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Covington, said the museum will be a valuable resource in teaching his congregation.

        “The museum will illustrate what we're teaching and preaching in our church,” he said, adding, “There's a notion that those of us who are creationists are a small minority that are not that educated.

        “But if you look at the numbers you might be surprised. The movement is growing.”

        In a 1999 Gallup Poll, 47 percent of Americans said they believe God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so. That is up 3 percentage points from the same survey question in 1997.

        Mainstream science generally holds that the universe, including Earth, are billions of years old, and that humans gradually evolved over several million years.

        While ministry officials believe they have a large audience to speak to, there is still much work to be done before the museum is completed. Many of the exhibits have been obtained, but $3.75 million must be raised before groundbreaking.

        That's why ministry officials are kicking off their capital campaign today as well. The organization has already raised more than $1.5 million. But because the museum will be built in phases as the money comes, the rest of the initial $3.75 million must be in the bank before they sign on with a general contractor.
       

Strategic location
               Today's announcement seems a long time from the first day the founders of Answers in Genesis set foot in Kentucky.

        Ken Ham, Mark Looy and Mike Zovath came to Northern Kentucky in 1994 after working for the Institute for Creation Research in San Diego, which focuses on applied research in the creationism field.

        While Mr. Ham worked there he helped put together a story line for the 4,500-square-foot creation museum at the institute, which has about 25,000 visitors a year.

        But the three wanted to help lay people and churches return to a belief in the authority and reliability of the Bible, Mr. Ham said.

        After researching several cities, they chose Greater Cincinnati because of its demographics and proximity to an international airport and to 165 million Americans who live within a day's drive.

        The three started promoting Mr. Ham's seminars but have since built a nonprofit organization that has a $6 million a year budget, a staff of more than 60 people and a diversified network of outreach programs. Those include a magazine, radio program and an abundance of resources such as books and videotapes.

        More than 190,000 people are on its mailing list.

        And the movement is getting bigger, Mr. Ham said.

        “We never thought it would be this big,” he said. “The number of lives we're going to affect is in the millions.”

        The crowning achievement of this ministry, members say, is the museum and national headquarters that will be on 47 acres just west of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

        The group bills the museum as a rival to any natural history museum in the Midwest - but with a different message.

        “We've got the most important message they'll hear in their lifetime,” Mr. Zovath said, “that Jesus Christ is our savior and creator. We want to be as proud of this as any museum in the country.

        “We want to go first class.”
       

Zoning battles
               The ministry proposed its museum in 1996.

        Residents and officials were opposed, and a rezoning request for the museum was rejected. A lawsuit was filed, then held in abeyance when Answers in Genesis again filed for a different zoning designation. That was approved late last year.

        While few took issue with the museum's content, many Boone County residents voiced opposition because they thought the zoning was inappropriate for such a large facility.

        Since February, the ministry bought the land and has been working with a design team to develop walk-through history exhibits.

        Plans are to divide the Biblical history into seven sections, or seven “C's”: Creation, the story of how God created the world; Corruption, Adam's sin; Catastrophe, Noah and the flood; Confusion, the Tower of Babel; Christ, the life of Jesus; Cross, Jesus' death and resurrection; and Consummation, the completion of the story.

        The seven C's are Mr. Ham's core teachings.

        Visitors will likely walk through the chronological history first and then wander into distinct wings that will emphasize certain fields of science, such as astronomy, biology and archaeology.

        With more media attention and the museum project moving forward as scheduled, Mr. Ham said he knows his ministry will see more and more criticism.

        “We're going to generate a lot more controversy,” he said. “Are we ready for it?

        “We're more ready than ever.”
       The Cincinnati Enquirer/PATRICK REDDY This is a model of a dilophosaurus to be displayed in the Answers in Genesis museum in Northern Kentucky.

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