Petersburg, KY
The Creation Museum

by Chante
(IN)

For those of you wanting to tour museums in Kentucky, here's a fairly new one that will certainly give you an experience to remember!

To learn more about this unique museum, I had a Q&A session with the co-founder, Mark Looy.
__________________________________________________

Q: How did the museum start?

A: The museum is an outreach of Answers in Genesis, a Christian apologetics ministry helping believers to defend their faith and its foundation in the Bible as the ultimate authority for our lives. Ken Ham, the founder of Answers in Genesis, was a science teacher in Australia in the 1970s, and became frustrated that virtually all the natural history museums presented evolution as fact. He had a vision for a natural history-type museum that would present the biblical view of origins.

Q: How long did it take to complete?

A: The land was acquired in 2000, with construction beginning in 2003.

Q: How old is it now and how many visitors has it hosted?

A: The museum opened on Memorial Day weekend in 2007, so is about 3 ½ years old, and has welcomed more than 1.2 million visitors

Q: What are some main features/exhibits?

A: A walk through biblical history is the centerpiece of the Creation Museum and features amazing scientific and biblical answers for the world we live in today. Using animatronics like realistically moving dinosaurs, a special effects theater, a high-tech planetarium, etc. the museum presents visitors with the true time line of the universe unfolding through the “7 C’s of History”—illuminating God’s redemptive plan throughout history.


Noah’s Ark construction site invites guests to view the scaffolding and smell the freshly cut timbers in the busy work site of Noah’s Ark. They can delve into the belly of the Ark and imagine the stalls full of animals, in close quarters, and listen to the sounds of thunderous, driving rains, and the pounding of water against the sides of the great Ark.



In the Dinosaur Den visitors learn that biblical history is the key to understanding dinosaurs. Guests can explore many of these amazing creatures along with fossilized dinosaur eggs, a triceratops skeleton casting, and much more!



One of the newest exhibits helps visitors understand that natural selection is not evolution. Guests can enjoy the wonders of God’s Creation as they uncover what natural selection can and cannot do. This exhibit includes an aquarium that resembles a real cave. This cave aquarium features live blind cavefish, showing how natural selection allows organisms to possess characteristics most favorable for a given environment—but it is not an example of evolution in the molecules-to-man sense. Another part of the exhibit shows the truth about antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Q: What features/exhibits are planned in the future?

A: The museum is constantly growing, including special exhibits for young children called the “Knee-High” museum. New parts of this exhibit are added periodically as they are developed and funded. We are currently working to expand our planetarium, providing additional tools for guests to explore the universe. While it won’t be located at the Creation Museum, Answers in Genesis has recently announced an entire new attraction, the Ark Encounter, including a full-size Noah’s Ark, a Tower of Babel, a Walled City and a First Century Village, among other exhibits. You can find more details about this at the Ark Encounter website. This is set to open in 2014 in Williamstown, Kentucky, 40 minutes south of the Creation Museum.

Q: Do you have anything special set up for homeschooling field trips?

A: While not specifically for homeschoolers, we offer regular children’s reading programs as well as presentations by our museum speakers on creation-related topics for all age groups. You can see some of the examples of these programs at our online event calendar. A list of the workshops can be found here.

Q: How do parents organize homeschooling field trips to the museum?

A: The best place to start is with a call to our groups sales representatives. They can tell you everything you need to know to schedule a trip: (888) 582-4253 ext. 355

Q: What assistance do you offer to parents planning homeschooling field trips?

A: The group sales number can help you with this as well.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like for homeschoolers to know?

A: The grounds of the museum are as fun and educational for children as what’s inside the museum. These include a Petting Zoo, Camel Rides and Botanical Gardens exhibiting the beauty and variety of God’s creation.




In 2011, we will build a 1,000-seat auditorium next to the museum, and also break ground on an observatory with an excellent telescope. Check out our website for more information.