February 3 1997

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Plans by a Florence, Kentucky, creationist group to build a $4 million museum, nature park, and office complex are on hold after a county fiscal court voted 4 to 0 December 10 to deny a rezoning request.

Answers in Genesis (AIG) had received a 9-to-4 approval from a county zoning commission in October on the proposed 97-acre Genesis Park. But a petition drive spearheaded by university professors and Free Inquiry, a secular humanist group, helped sway county officials, even though they received 700 letters and faxes in support of Genesis Park.

AIG Executive Director Ken Ham says opponents falsely accused his organization of being a right-wing cult. "It really had nothing to do with land use," Ham says of the zoning defeat. "It was a philosophical battle." Land purchase was contingent on the rezoning. "We're still going ahead with the project," Ham says. "It will just have to be in a different place."

February 3, 1997 Vol. 41, No. 2, Page 74