Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Tourism is down period. People don't have disposable income like they did 10-20 years ago. I have a friend who works in the tourism industry in Branson and she said it's been a really lean year. I would love to go if it was closer. Ken has built a beautiful park and the ark looks pretty amazing in photos. There are other attractions like a zoo and zip line.
The sad thing is atheists just gleefully want to see this project fail completely which only hurts the residents of Kentucky. Kentucky is a poverty state and this park could be a huge boost to the local economy and bring jobs.
The ugly Ark.park sits in the middle of no where. There is no local economy. I am sure the nice people in Kentucky would rather spend their hard earned money closer to home. I hear the water parks are doing well.
He charges for parking and donkey rides. Zip costs extra too.
You would think there would be more than one restaurant for the crowds he expects. Tourism here is off the chain. No Ark needed. No amusements parks. No water parks.
The ugly Ark.park sits in the middle of no where. There is no local economy. I am sure the nice people in Kentucky would rather spend their hard earned money closer to home. I hear the water parks are doing well.
He charges for parking and donkey rides. Zip costs extra too.
You would think there would be more than one restaurant for the crowds he expects. Tourism here is off the chain. No Ark needed. No amusements parks. No water parks.
You are entitled to your opinion. And I am entitled to my opinion that your opinion is extreme biased garbage.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,950,860 times
Reputation: 4561
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffbase40
Tourism is down period. People don't have disposable income like they did 10-20 years ago. I have a friend who works in the tourism industry in Branson and she said it's been a really lean year. I would love to go if it was closer. Ken has built a beautiful park and the ark looks pretty amazing in photos. There are other attractions like a zoo and zip line.
The sad thing is atheists just gleefully want to see this project fail completely which only hurts the residents of Kentucky. Kentucky is a poverty state and this park could be a huge boost to the local economy and bring jobs.
You truly rely on anecdotal evidence, don't you? You are wrong. Tourism is up. Period.
Thou not knowest what ye be talking about. Listening to Trump rather than facts?
Such desperation. I live in the real world. People are struggling. Cheap gas ain't going to make a difference. Those are the facts not the liberal distortion that somehow jacking up a minimum wage means more money and disposable income.
You are entitled to your opinion. And I am entitled to my opinion that your opinion is extreme biased garbage.
You do nothing to hide your ignorance, little brother.
The Ark park has only one restaurant.
The Ark park charges extra for parking, donkey rides and zip line ride.
A decent hotel is more than twenty miles away.
Tourism is up in this area, and the trend will continue. We do not have amusement parks, water parks, or Arks.
Perhaps people do not like Branson. You go once, and never go back.
Just how many times would a family want to see the Ark? Once. It does not even float. There is nothing to capture a child's imagination. There is nothing to inspire curiosity. There are no rides either.
Such desperation. I live in the real world. People are struggling. Cheap gas ain't going to make a difference. Those are the facts not the liberal distortion that somehow jacking up a minimum wage means more money and disposable income.
Stop complaining. You are single. No children, either. Nothing stops you from getting another job.
That was funded with public monies? How the hell ... ?!!!
Ark Encounter is being funded by a $62 million TIF.
It turns out the majority of Ark Encounter is being funded by a TIF granted by the City of Williamstown, Kentucky.
Quote:
What is a TIF?
I myself was unfamiliar with TIF districts until a few weeks ago. But let me attempt a simple explanation: TIF stands for “Tax Increment Financing” and they’re usually issued in urban areas that are considered “blighted.”
For example, suppose there was an abandoned shopping mall in a deteriorating community. A TIF can be set up to attract developers whose businesses may revitalize the area. The district officials could, for example, give the developers interest-free loans to build their project based on what they expect they can retrieve in property taxes over the next 30 years. That’s it. The developers don’t have to do anything differently from if they hadn’t been issued the TIFs at all. But now, rather than the property taxes going back to the community, the tax revenue is diverted to pay off the loan.
This can be a great help to the local economy if the development is a long-term success — it’s money well invested. The downside is, if the new developments fall short of projections (or fail entirely), the developers aren’t held liable for repayment and the burden of debt falls on the investors and taxpayers.
TIFs are controversial for a number of reasons and they’ve been discontinued in California, the first U.S. state to implement their use, because of the numerous lawsuits they led to (not to mention other unintended consequences).
Quote:
On November 1, 2012, a Memorandum of Agreement (begins on page 55) approving $62 million in funding for Ark Encounter, LLC was signed by officials of Williamstown and the County of Grant.
It said that, over a 30-year period, 75% of Ark Encounter’s real estate taxes would go toward repayment of the interest-free TIF. So instead of that money going to the city (and the citizens), it’ll be used to repay those bonds.
*Also — pay attention to this one, potential Ark Park staffers — all employees working within the TIF district (that is, Ark Encounter) will pay a 2% job assessment fee on gross wages. In other words, $2 out of every pre-tax $100 dollars you make will go directly to paying off the for-profit Noah’s Ark attraction.
You can view the bond issued by The City of Williamstown to Ark Encounter here and here.
Such a huge waste of money at the expense of the tax payers. I guess the KY voters did not do their homework when voting the officials into office.
You can find out more about this foolish investment and the Arch Encounter's discriminatory hiring practices here.
Well Jeff, considering Summer vacation season is in full swing, it looks like Christian tourism isn't a very popular option. The ark looks very cheesy with plastic animals, at the very least Ham could have invested a small petting zoo. Who would pay 40 bucks to visit something so lackluster? Ham, is acting like a self proclaimed "Christian P.T. Barnum" and he will quickly learn that a sucker is not born every minute.
There is a zoo, of unknown size, and a zip line attraction. I'd guess there's an additional fee for the zip line.
Forty bucks is a hefty price to walk around and look at exhibits. We visit a lot of museums. Average admission charge is $20-25. And for that you can see paintings by grand masters and artifacts from ancient cultures. Ham is charging double that to walk through his none-float-able ark. . He did use Amish craftsmen, so I give him credit for that. But few Amish, a notoriously thrifty group, would plunk down forty bucks to look at an Amish-made barn. They've seen those.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
