Many children and adults are familiar with the story of Noah, whom God tasked to build an ark to save his family and preserve animal species that would have been wiped out in the ensuing flood. This story lives on in our imaginations as we try to picture how Noah was able to squeeze all those animals in, feed them, give them drinking water, and see to their well-being for more than a year—not to mention take care of his own human family. These pending questions may be answered now that Williamstown in northern Kentucky hosts the world’s only life-sized replica of the famed biblical ark.
How It Started
A Christian group called Answers in Genesis seeks to provide answers to questions about Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. The story of Noah’s Ark is one of the more popular stories from this book (and one that raises a lot of questions). Hence, the Ark Encounter was created. More than 1 million visitors per year have passed through its cavernous interiors since it opened in July 2016.At a cost of $150 million, the project stayed as close as possible to the build specifications described in Scripture. It is currently the “world’s largest freestanding timber-frame structure,” according to the World Record Academy, standing more than 50 feet tall and 510 feet long. That translates to three levels, each the size of one and a half football fields. That is how much room Noah and his family had to house the animals and store food and water for the flood.
