Trying to “Reverse” the Curse

Because of Adam’s sin and the resulting judgment of the Curse (Genesis 3), the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:22, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

Yes, the whole creation does groan. An example of this “groaning” can be experienced at the Creation Museum, because over time things begin to wear out! Actually, we have professionals on staff who work hard doing maintenance and upgrades so the Creation Museum building and exhibits continue to operate like new.

However, there comes a time when some things just have to be totally renovated. That is why it is important that we charge a realistic museum entrance fee (one that is extremely reasonable for a high-tech facility like ours, especially when compared with similar secular facilities). It not only covers daily running costs but also the ongoing maintenance and the necessary refurbishing that has to take place in such facilities. And of course, we try to do most major repair work during the winter months when there are fewer visitors.

Recently, we had to close the Special Effects Theater for a week. Our facilities staff worked very hard to make repairs and rebuild the various apparatus that make this high-tech theatre work. Over 1.5 million visitors have seen the “Men in White” special effects program at the Creation Museum. Our facilities manager reported the following:

Each seat back cushion in the Theater had to come off to replace the shakers, to repair any water feed hoses, or to adjust or tighten the seat back frames. They have four large bolts and three small screws that hold the cushion to the frame. All of the four bolts suffered from problems that caused them to strip the threads, so that is why we had to drill the holes, tap the holes and replace all four bolts. This took approximately one to two hours to complete per seat. We did not just replace bolts but also drilled and tapped every hole—550 times!

Once the cushion was removed and the bolt holes re-tapped, we then replaced the shaker and/or repaired many of the hoses (that bring water for the spray that shoots out from the seats).

Then we turned our attention to the seat frame bolts that had problems and required four to six inch bolts per two seats replaced.

We then discovered that the power feed wires that activate the shakers had problems in being crushed by the seat stops, so they also had to be pulled out and routed to clear the stops.

The last back row of 21 seats had to be tilted forward to gain access to the bolts and then moved back and forth to replace or repair anything .

We replaced 59 shakers and repaired over 40 hose problems, 20 wire reroutes, and the above bolts issues.

The Special Effects Theater is now as good as new (actually better than new), and ready for the many more people who will be ministered to by the “Men in White” program.

The following photographs were taken during the major overhaul of the theater:

Once they finished the Special Effects Theater, our facilities team moved on to the “Starting Points” room, where the floor is badly in need of replacing. See the photos below as they begin this job:

Last year, the Stargazers Planetarium theater had to be totally overhauled. After four years of operation, the projectors failed and had to be replaced with newer technology. That was a $250,000 renovation!

Many people are unaware of the cost of maintaining a facility like the Creation Museum. That is why we need to charge an entrance fee, but for new exhibits, we can only install these if people support them by donations, and we always have projects we are ready to begin once we receive donations to cover the cost.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken