Noah's Ark Replica Owners Sue Insurers for Roughly $1 Million in Rain Damage
A little rain never hurt anybody, right?
Owners of a more than 500-foot-long replica of Noah’s Ark would beg to differ.
Ark Encounter, the company behind the massive vessel, is suing their insurers over rain damage. Those who know the story of Noah will recall that the Old Testament figure built the ark to survive 40 days and 40 nights of rain.
Ark Encounter filed a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court on Wednesday, May 22, according to legal documents. In the suit, Ark Encounter asks for compensatory and punitive damages, claiming that heavy rains in 2017 and 2018 caused a landslide on the attraction’s access road, the lawsuit states.
The company claims that its five insurers allegedly refused to pay roughly $1 million in damages.
The Ark, which sits in Williamstown, Kentucky, was built in 2016.
“We are not going to comment to the press on this case,” said Ark Encounter’s lawyer Amanda Brooke Stubblefield, of the Cincinnati firm Keating, Muething & Klekamp, to the Louisville Courier-Journal. Stubblefield could not be reached for comment by PEOPLE on Friday night.
“The lawsuit speaks for itself. We don’t have anything to add at this time, other than to say that we are highly confident of the merits of our case as we seek a fair resolution to the matter,” said Melany Ethridge, a spokeswoman for the park, to the outlet. Ethridge did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
However, the statement also said that hours of operation were not affected and that guests have not been affected by roadwork in the wake of the landslide.
Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings, which is named in the suit along with three other carriers, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Ark Encounter’s boat is 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high, and was built according to the dimensions mentioned in the Bible, Ark Encounter explains on their website.
The park invites attendees to “travel back in time on a mile-long scenic bus ride and ascend in view of the massive Ark. Next, take a wild adventure and soar across gorgeous valleys on a zip line tour. Then spot some exotic animals at Ararat Ridge Zoo, or relax with your friends and family at our casual two-story restaurant.”
