When Gov. Steve Beshear held a Capitol news conference to announce potential state tax incentives for an amusement park built around a life-size Noah's Ark earlier this month, he cited a feasibility study that predicted the park would attract 1.6 million visitors in its first year. 
 
 However, neither Beshear nor other state officials had seen or read the study, which was commissioned by Ark Encounter, LLC, the group building the theme park. 
 
 "The press release was a joint effort, and the Ark Encounter provided the numbers for the release based on their own research, much like how we work with companies on jobs announcements — they give us the info about their job numbers and investment and we work together on a release," said Beshear spokeswoman Kerri Richardson in an e-mail. 
 
 The state doesn't have a copy of the report, according to responses to requests under the Open Records Act sent by the Herald-Leader to the state tourism and economic development departments and to the governor's office. 
 
 Officials with Ark Encounter also declined to give the Herald-Leader a copy of the 10,000-page report, including its 200-page executive summary. 
 
 According to the company's summary of the study, the project is expected to create more than 900 full- and part-time jobs in Grant County, a number that Beshear has now mentioned in various venues around the state as he prepares for his re-election campaign next year. 
 
 The ark park is an offshoot of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, which is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible, showing visitors how the world was created in six, 24-hour days 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. That enterprise is run by Answers in Genesis, which owns part of Ark Encounter LLC. 
 
 "We've got people making state economic development decisions without actually seeing the numbers," said Jim Waters of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a Libertarian-leaning think tank in Bowling Green. "I think that's outrageous." 
 
 The park is supposed to have a life-size wooden ark, with some live animals and models of others, including dinosaurs, which Ark Encounter officials believe existed alongside man. The park will also feature a Tower of Babel, a first-century village and a children's play area. 
 
 Richardson said the possible $37.5 million in tax breaks would only come after the park met certain financial goals. 
 
 "The state doesn't put in a penny to this project until it is completed, operating, and hitting the agreed-upon performance goals set through the Tourism Development Act," Richardson said. "If they complete the project and it doesn't perform as well as projected, then the state does not pay a nickel on the deal." 
 
 Richardson said the Tourism Development Act will require the state tourism department to do its own feasibility study. 
 
 As first reported by the liberal Barefoot and Progressive blog, the feasibility study was conducted by America's Research Group, a Charleston, S.C. consulting and marketing firm run by Britt Beemer, who also co-authored a book with Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham. 
 
 In an interview, Beemer said he correctly predicted the 400,000 visitors to the Creation Museum in its first year. 
 
 Beemer said his company did "behavioral-based research," which involved calling 1,000 people around the country and asking them 147 questions about Ark Encounter. He said other clients of his include Berkshire Hathaway and Seely Mattress. 
 
 "When someone asks me to do one of these studies, I'm thorough," he said. 
 
 Beemer did a similar study on teenagers' attitudes toward churchgoing for Ham, which Ham ended up using in a book called Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it. 
 
 "He was kind enough to put me as a co-author," Beemer said. 
 
 Beemer said his predictions on visitors to the ark park sound very plausible. 
 
 "You have to realize the Ark cuts across almost all faiths, whether you're Christian or Jewish," Beemer said. "I think 78 percent of people questioned said they would like to see it; usually when you create a concept like this, you want 48 percent." 
 
 The Ark, which has made Kentucky the target of late night comedians, may face other hurdles, such as a possible lawsuit from opponents who question whether the deal would violate laws about the separation of church and state. 
 
 Regardless of this project, Waters said the situation points out larger problems with the state's economic development policy, including its secrecy. 
 
 "We've questioned for a long time the lack of transparency on handing out tax incentives," he said. "It's also very disingenuous — it misleads Kentuckians to think this has been well thought out, which is clearly not happening. It's simply a chance for the governor to have a photo-op about several hundred low-paying jobs." ||||| The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority has granted preliminary approval for a creationist theme park to get up to $37 million in tax incentives, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. 
 
 The theme park — dubbed Ark Encounter — is backed by both Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) and Answers in Genesis, a Christian organization that also built a similar attraction, the Creation Museum. 
 
 In the news release announcing the plans, Beshear touted that the park would create around 900 jobs and bring 1.6 million tourists to the state in its first year. Those numbers were based on a feasability study, commissioned by Ark Encounters LLC — a study that state officials, including Beshear, reportedly never actually saw. 
 
 The tax incentives could subsidize up to 25 percent of the project. As part of the incentives, the state would return the sales tax on costs such as food, admission and gift sales. 
 
 Beshear spokesperson Kerri Richardson told the Herald-Leader that the Kentucky Tourism Development Act, under which the park is seeking the tax incentives, will require the state to conduct its own feasability study, which will take about three-and-a-half months. 
 
 “The state doesn’t put in a penny to this project until it is completed, operating, and hitting the agreed-upon performance goals set through the Tourism Development Act,” she added. “If they complete the project and it doesn’t perform as well as projected, then the state does not pay a nickel on the deal.” 
 
 So just how trustworthy is a feasability report that no one has seen? America’s Research Group, run by Britt Beemer, conducted the study. Fun fact: Beemer actually co-wrote a book with Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham. 
 
 Beemer told the Lexington-Herald, “When someone asks me to do one of these studies, I’m thorough.” The study involved “behavioral-based research,” which included calling 1,000 people and asking them 147 questions about the theme park. 
 
 Gov. Beshear’s Deputy Communications Director Jill Midkiff stressed to TPM that the feasability report was not required as part of the application for tax incentives, but she did say the report’s jobs and tourism numbers were included in the application. 
 
 Ark Encounter will include all the modern recreation amenities, including: a full-sized wooden ark, a “walled city much like was found in ancient times, a replica of the Tower of Babel with exhibits, a first-century Middle Eastern village” and even outdoor parking. The park is scheduled to open in the spring of 2014.
– “Ark Encounter,” the proposed creationist-themed amusement park where kids will be able to explore a 500-foot model of Noah’s Ark, moved a step closer to getting state funding this week, when the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority approved up to $37 million in tax incentives. Those incentives, which have been a bit controversial, would finance as much as 25% of the project, Talking Points Memo reports. The park is getting those incentives because a feasibility study predicted that it would draw 1.6 million tourists to Kentucky in its first year. Of course, that feasibility study was commissioned by Ark Encounters LLC, and, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, state officials haven’t even looked at it. But not to worry—Kentucky’s governor, a major fan of the park, promises that Kentucky will conduct its own study, as required by law, and won't "put a penny to this project until it is completed." (Click to read an argument against the tax incentives.)