Enthusiasm grows for Mesquite ark

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 11:39 a.m.

In 1997, the Mesquite City Council rejected a plan for a 30-story statue of Jesus Christ and a religious theme park in the desert land around the community of 14,000 people.

But this month, the council gave its blessing to something a little more Old Testament.

Enthusiasm is building for Noah's Ark and a parade of 5,500 animals that would live just southwest of the city at the base of Flat Top Mesa near where the Virgin River nourishes four golf courses.

At 4 1/2 stories tall, 464 feet long and 125 feet wide, the ark -- about the size of the one God commanded Noah to build in the Bible's book of Genesis -- would be the centerpiece of a theme park similar to the Wild Animal Park north of San Diego.

But more important to Mesquite is that the jobs generated by the park would represent economic diversification.

"It would provide 200 to 300 jobs for Mesquite," said Melanie Giarratana, an economic development specialist with the city. "Our city is very dependent upon the casino industry, so this could diversify our economy."

David Kirk, president of the Noah's Ark Conservancy for Endangered and Threatened Species, is the ramrod for the project that is drawing on worldwide resources to develop.

Kirk, who founded the non-profit Noah's Ark Foundation nine years ago, then handed it off to others "when I decided to make some money for myself," even evoked some biblical flood imagery when he explained how he got involved with the Mesquite theme park project.

"I sat down and talked with Si Redd (owner of Mesquite's Oasis hotel-casino) and some of the other people about the possibility of putting something like this together," Kirk said. "Mr. Redd had worked with a petting zoo at one time, but this was quite a bit larger. I've had some contact with some other people about how the animals would interact with the local environment. One thing led to another and now it's like I'm in an ocean trying to keep afloat."

Others that are a part of Kirk's ocean:

* Duane Kraemer, a professor at Texas A&M University, director of the Project Noah's Ark Science Program. Kraemer hopes to bring students to the park to conduct research on reproductive technologies and to study the care of animals. He also is enthusiastic about having easy access to the main highway between Southern California and Utah near a town that generates traffic for recreation enthusiasts. Tourists, he said, would generate funds to support the program.

* Ark Genetics, a Canadian company that is taking the lead in developing a world-class laboratory at the theme park site.

* WonderWorks Corp., Los Angeles, which has agreed to take on the design of the park. Kirk said the company envisions lighting the ark at night and making it look like it's floating above the desert floor.

* Giarratana and the City of Mesquite, who are working with the office of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to convince the Bureau of Land Management to turn about 2,700 acres over to the city for economic diversification. The city hopes to develop a $20 million special improvement district as part of the project. The proposed theme park land would be within a corridor extending about 7 miles out of town along Interstate 15 and would include property eyed as an airport site.

* Dennis Meritt, who is completing the design of a wild animal park in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emerites. Meritt says the Mesquite project will be easy compared to the development in the Middle East because he won't have to desalinate water from the Virgin River.

* Redd and Las Vegas real estate developer Richard Tam are two investors interested in seeing the project flourish for the 1.5 million tourists a year the park is expected to generate for the city. Redd, whose company is selling time-share units in Mesquite, has a rendering of the ark atop Flat Top Mesa in an office at the Oasis.

* Jimmie Hughes, a former mayor of Mesquite, is a U.S. Department of Agriculture-licensed curator and has a number of exotic animals on a 100-acre ranch just over the border in Arizona. He has an interest in showing some of the animals, which include axis deer from Indian and Sumatra, sika deer from Japan, llamas, orix and Corsican sheep.

* The ark, the size of a football field, would be made of Philippine mahogany by craftsmen from Saudi Arabia. Birds would fly freely inside and actors in period costumes would discuss endangered species with guests. The ark would be accessed by cable car and could be seen from 20 miles away because of its proximity on the mesa.

In addition to bringing in students from Texas A&M, Kirk said he plans to discuss the park proposal with representatives of the University of Nevada Reno and UNLV. Kirk said he hopes UNR's agriculture school can develop a 450-acre plot to grow alfalfa, a crop that flourishes in the area already.

UNLV's potential contribution, Kirk said, could be to provide logistical support and facilities management.

Members of the Mesquite City Council say they haven't heard from any opponents to the park plan. The council voted this month to start the process of acquiring the land and investigating the financing of the necessary infrastructure.

Councilman Lyle Hughes, a candidate for mayor in Mesquite's upcoming election, has a reputation as a conservative who carefully checks out any major community undertaking that could have an impact on the reputation of the city, including last year's controversial "running of the bulls" event.

"We don't want to come across as a place that would do anything for a dime," the councilman said.

Hughes said his biggest worry is whether citizens of Mesquite will be asked to approve a $20 million bond package to develop infrastructure for the park. He's had similar concerns about airport projects on BLM land.

Hughes now finds himself in a position of having to be careful about what he says publicly about the project. Not only is there an election a little over a month away, but one of the local supporters of the project is Jimmie Hughes -- Lyle's older brother. The councilman doesn't want to entangle himself in conflict-of-interest charges.

Kirk expects the project to cost between $100 million and $120 million which, by theme park standards, is low. The reason for the low estimate is that the ark would be the largest building on the property. Everything else would be built from native materials and would blend in with the landscape.

No rides are planned at the park, with the possible exception of a people-mover to transport park visitors across I-15 if the development spreads to both sides of the four-lane highway. Flat Top Mesa is just outside the Mesquite city limit and has a V for Virgin Valley painted on one of the rock faces.

Giarratana said some of the long-term goals of the project are to include a five-star restaurant on the ark site and possibly an Imax big-screen theater.

The animal enclosures are low budget. Kirk said moats and natural gorges on the landscape will cordon off animals from five continents: Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and North America. Kirk said models of aboriginal villages could be included in the setting putting the animals in a natural environment.

The developers hope to have the theme park running by the fall of 2001 so that tourists using I-15 to travel from Southern California to Utah for the 2002 Olympic Games will be enticed into stopping.

"We may not have the ark completed at that point, but most of it should be up by then," Kirk said.

Acquiring the land from the BLM may be one of the biggest roadblocks to getting the project started, Giarratana said. She said she hopes ground can be broken on the ark site within 18 to 24 months. That would give developers a year to 18 months to get the ark built before Olympics fans flood through town on their way to Utah.

One certainty: They aren't expecting 40 days and 40 nights of rain to slow them down.

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