METHODIST PLANS CHRISTIAN THEME PARK FOR YORKSHIRE

Recreating the parting of the Red Sea, a life-size Noah’s Ark and the battle scenes from David and Goliath are among attractions planned for the UK’s first Christian adventure theme park

Ark Alive aims to bring to life the stories of the Bible through a mix of leisure entertainment, fun and interactive displays. It will guide visitors through a series of elaborate themed areas depicting famous events described in the Old and New Testaments.

The project is the brainchild of Methodist Andrea Webster, a Leeds businesswoman and 40-year-old mother of two, who owns successful children’s day nurseries in the city and has been a committed Christian since the age of 14. She and her family attend Guiseley Church.

An Ark Alive charitable trust has been set up to launch a national fundraising campaign to help secure the estimated £144 million needed to build the theme park. The trust is seeking donations from the UK’s 6 million Christians as well as private investors and benefactors. Sources of grant funding are also being investigated.

"It will be a place where Disney meets the Bible". Said Andrea Webster who visited Florida theme parks to help in her vision for Ark Alive and has committed £100,000 of how own money for making it a reality.

"Every year children are told about the first Christmas and it never fails to capture their imagination. Ark Alive aims to encompass the magic of the Bible and present it in a way that will be exciting and relevant to modern audiences of all ages, interest and beliefs."

The Ark Alive trust believes Yorkshire could provide an ideal location for the theme park, although potential sites have yet to be confirmed. The timing and need for Ark Alive could not be better or greater, according to Andrea Webster. She believes the decline of Christian teaching and celebration in schools and the over-commercialisation of religious festivals such as Easter has created a huge potential demand for a spiritual resource like Art Alive.

With the replica Ark as its centrepiece, the adventure theme park is planned to be a year-round family leisure resort. Other key attractions would include a Garden of Eden bio-dome, the Land of the Pyramids, Galilee fishing port and biblical streets with the sights and smells of 2,000 years ago.

There will be a place for worship and library facilities for Christian learning, study and discussion. A hotel, leisure club, heated swimming pools and water play areas, restaurants, and exhibition space are also planned to complement the overall scheme.

www.arkalive.co.uk/