Its exhibits present a "young Earth creationist" interpretation of Scripture including that evolution is a fraud, the world is only 6000 years old and homosexuality is a sin.
When he built Ark Encounter and the associated Ham predicted it would be "one of the greatest Christian outreaches of our era" attracting up to two million visitors a year.
The theme park received generous - and disputed - local and state tax breaks in return for its promises of economic development, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.
But the tourists haven't come in the numbers forecast and some of the locals aren't happy.
DISPUTED FIGURES
In July, as its first year of opening loomed, park co-founder Mike Zovath said visitor tallies would hit one million. But that figure could not be confirmed by outside sources.
But some small businesses in Williamstown, about two kilometres from the theme park, say the flood of business they were promised is a trickle.
Ham disputes the Ark Encounter is a failure, and defended it in a fiery blog post recently, saying "mainstream media, on blogs, and on well-known secularist group websites have attempted to spread propaganda to brainwash the public".
"The Ark Encounter could accommodate more than 8000 people a day (our record day) and generate more revenue for the county and state if not for the lack of hotels," he wrote.
He said "intolerant atheists" and "fake news" were to blame for critics believing the public was getting fleeced and the Ark Encounter was floundering.
"Sadly, they are influencing business investors and others in such a negative way that they may prevent Grant County, Kentucky, from achieving the economic recovery that its officials and residents have been seeking," he said.
"We are in a spiritual battle, and the intolerant secularists are so upset with such world-class attraction like the Ark (and Creation Museum) that publicly proclaim a Christian message," Ham claimed. "They will resort to whatever tactics they deem necessary to try to malign the attractions."
Ham points to tourism awards won by Ark Encounter but critics say he has not produced official numbers on Ark Encounter visits.
BOUGHT AND SOLD ... FOR $10
The Ark has had a checkered history. Ham said its establishment was funded purely by AIG, but concedes it was also made feasible thanks to tax breaks and government incentives.
The State of Kentucky awarded it a sales tax rebate under a tourism tax incentive program for up to A$18m over 10 years. That was cancelled after state officials found out the attraction would require declarations of Christian faith from potential employees.
But when Ark officials sued, and won, the rebate was restored.
Then, in late June, Ham raised more hackles.
When the city of Williamstown tried to introduce a new "safety tax" of 50 cents per ticket sold at Ark Encounter to upgrade the city's emergency services.
Going on Ark Encounter's own tourism numbers, it would cost the theme park an estimated A$700.000.
"Blindsided" Ark Encounter officials said it was unfair.
As the two sides traded arguments, the land on which the theme park sits suddenly changed hands.
Ham sold it effectively to himself. For A$10.
Ownership of Ark Encounter by Ham's non-profit affiliate entity, Crosswater Canyon, according to the Huffington Post, signalled Ark Encounter might be setting itself up to claim non-profit status, exempting itself from a sea of taxes.
But on July 18, state of Kentucky suspended the A$18m tax break, saying the land sale breached the sales tax rebate incentive agreement, which was with Ark Encounter LLC, not Crosswater Canyon.
Three days later, the land was sold back to Ark Encounter. For A$10. It's back to a for-profit company again.
Ark Encounter agreed to pay the safety fee. Begrudgingly.
"Now, we do believe there were, and still are, some issues with the way the ordinance is worded, and we do have concerns about the fairness of such a tax," Ham said in a statement.
"The city ordinance makes the Ark Encounter bear almost the entire load for the increased funding for Williamstown's police, fire and EMS budget."
EXPANSION CONTINUES
There are plans for a 2500-seat auditorium. That will be followed with a Walled City retail space based on a Middle Eastern souk, or bazaar, that includes small restaurants.
Plans also call for expanding the zoo, which has red kangaroos, ostriches and Tibetan yaks.
"The first year of operation has been excellent," Zovath said recently.
"The nationwide tour bus industry has fallen in love with the Ark/Creation Museum as a destination and we are experiencing large crowds daily. Families from every state in the country and most of the Canadian provinces have spent a day at the Ark so far."
Ahead of Labour Day weekend last weekend, Ham tweeted "Busy Labour Day weekend @ArkEncounter as over 20,000 expected to visit both Ark & @CreationMuseum".
At least one sceptic was unconvinced.
"Congratulations! You are about as accurate at assessing crowd sizes as the president," Matthew Sanders tweeted in reply.
