Two phrases I like to see together: ‘Creation Museum’ and ‘Financial Trouble’

[SecularMotion]

In a developing story from Kentucky, the Creation Museum is running out of money due to declining attendance, bringing their “Ark Encounter” project to a stand-still because of a lack of funding.

Interestingly, the reason for the slowing traffic seems to be creationism itself, since the main exhibit has literally not changed in 5 years. Most museums’ exhibits change as new discoveries are made, as artifacts travel from other museums to visit, or as adjustments in scientific thinking are made.

Another reason could be the demographic that creationism’s proponents target.

A spectacle like the Creation Museum has a pretty limited audience. Sure, 46 percent of Americans profess to believe in creationism, but how many are enthusiastic enough to venture to Kentucky to spend nearly $30 to see a diorama of a little boy palling around with a vegetarian dinosaur? The museum’s target demographic may not be eager to lay down that much money: Belief in creationism correlates to less education, and less education correlates to lower income.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/06/26/two-phrases-i-like-to-see-together-creation-museum-and-financial-trouble/

[TlalocW]

1. Irony of ironies...

Their refusal to evolve is doing them in.

TlalocW

[cbayer]

3. Good one.

[MADem]

2. They can SAVE this effort, though!!

They just need new animatronics that look something like these guys....



Yabba Dabba DOOOOOO!

[hrmjustin]

11. LOL!

[Nay]

4. A couple of fundies at my workplace went to that museum last year, undoubtedly just

to support it. $30 bucks is a lot of money to spend for something like that. I suspect that the museum has already run through all the regional fundies willing and able to spend that kind of dough. Many fundies in other parts of the country are probably too poor to even make the trip.

[Progressive dog]

5. I agree as long as "state aid" isn't coming next nt

[cbayer]

6. I can't see how they could possibly qualify for that.

[Progressive dog]

8. I hope you're right, I thought they did get tax breaks

when they built that place.
If Think Progress has it right, they've already gotten $43 million in tax breaks.
[link:http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/05/20/208151/kentucky-tax-break-creationis-theme-park/?mobile=nc|

[cbayer]

9. I believe they did get some tax breaks because the legislature (mistakenly)

thought that this would bring in significant tourist revenue.

Since it is apparently an utter failure, I doubt they would be inclined to give them anything else at this point.

[WCGreen]

7. Too many kids were saying...

"Really Dad, this is what you really believe..."

[idwiyo]

10. K&R

[No Vested Interest]

12. Perhaps the zip line will keep them afloat another year;

then we'll see.

OTOH, the National Underground Freedom Railroad Museum, memorializing that which most would consider worthy, is nearby in downtown Cincinnati, and, despite money-raised from large corporations, visits from celebrities such as Oprah, efforts to offer diversified programs, and, finally, public monies which the powers that be had promised would never be needed or asked -
that organization struggles to maintain itself.

The lesson might be that narrowly focused museums get one-time visitors and then struggle to survive.

Though I live in SW Ohio, I've never visited either of these museums because
1. have no interest whatsoever in what the Creation Museum promotes, including the zip line
2. the Underground Railroad Museum offers nothing so unique that I see the need to visit.
3. there are a number of other serious museums - Art, Science, Historical, Natural History - that satisfy any person's curiosity and pleasure.