Bible Park USA is a one-of-a-kind themed story park that brings the Bible to life through well-loved, familiar stories and ancient historical experiences.
The Bible Park USA (BPU) is a non-denominational Bible-based themed attraction depicting well-loved Bible stories and providing an authentic historical representation of life as it was in ancient times in the Holy Land. BPU is a unique concept that has been carefully conceived and tested to ensure a comprehensive, enjoyable experience for the guest. In addition to the entertainment and educational experience, the Park offers a state-of-the-art music recording studio, a covered amphitheatre for music concerts, a museum where rotating Biblical exhibitions will be scheduled, and a theatre where several Broadway-level Biblical plays will be produced annually. The Park also includes a Bible Study Center where groups can come, meet and study. BPU will provide a day of fun, learning, contemplation and a place for families to enjoy the Bible together; all in all, it’s a place where the Bible will be brought to life in a new and interesting way, providing guests with an fun, relaxing and enjoyable experience.
About the Park
- The Park is planned as an “edutainment” experience, combining education and entertainment. The Park is without a particular religious ideology or theology and does not promote specific religious beliefs of any kind; instead, it is designed to bring to life history of Biblical times and stories from the Holy Bible.
- The Park offers visualizations of Biblical history and events, as well as the history and archaeology of that period. Attractions such as a Galilean Village — a “Colonial Williamsburg-type” working village — depict life in Galilee in the days of Jesus; an “agape tent” offers guests a place to gather as groups and experience authentic Biblical foods. Some of the stories from the Old Testament include: The Creation; The Parting of the Red Sea; Noah’s Ark; Abraham and Isaac of Mt. Mariah; and others. The New Testament is represented by the birth of Jesus, the Crucifixion and Resurrection; the Garden of Gethsemane; and others.
- The Park will contain multiple themed areas, each anchored by a key attraction and low-profile, indoor rides. In addition, the Park will contain a state-of-the-art acoustical amphitheatre for concerts; a Biblical museum with rotating exhibits; a stage where large-scale, high-quality Biblically based plays will be produced; and a high-tech recording studio where local, national and international artists will come to produce and record, and church choirs from around the country will be invited to record and perform. Special areas and attractions for young children, teenagers and families are included, all depicted in a safe, fun and family-oriented atmosphere.
- Which Bible stories will be displayed? The Bible has endless stories and events to tell. An Academic Advisory Council, populated with academic theologians from across the country, has been formed to plan the initial attractions. When the Park opens, approximately 50 stories from the Bible will be displayed. As the Park matures, more attractions and stories will be added to keep the concept fresh, alive and continually attractive to guests for initial visits and repeat visits.
- The Park is planned as a day-long attraction, operating to the highest standards. For example, employee uniforms will be well-designed to ensure a professional, consistent appearance, and all employees will attend the “Bible Park University,” an in-house training facility designed to promote strong hospitality and service skills to ensure that every guest of the Park has the best possible experience from start to finish.
Why Rutherford County, Tennessee?
After months of research and study, developers chose Rutherford County, Tennessee, as the site for the Park. The following are key factors in choosing Rutherford County:
- Location (in the central U.S.) – The Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro MSA is one day’s drive from 75% of the U.S. population
- Abundant access to interstates and roads leading to every corner of the U.S.
- Access to an excellent international airport
- Available acreage of the size needed
- Excellent and strategic proximity to Nashville – a major tourism center
- Proximity to related resources, such as religious musical artists in the Nashville area who would hold special concerts at the Park
- Excellent and abundant work force, and
- A strong regional focus on and belief in the Bible.
What the Park brings to Rutherford County
- The Park will be sited on approximately 275 acres in Rutherford County, Tennessee, with 150 acres dedicated to the Park and visitor parking. The remainder of the site will be maintained a lush green space, working farmland and will provide a natural vista and buffer zone for the Park. The Park will be open approximately 210 days annually.
- BPU establishes a major national tourist attraction in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Studies project the Park will attract 1.5 million tourists annually. Tourists provide the “cleanest” possible revenues to an area; economic experts extol the virtues of the tourism-produced dollar, as it provides much benefit to any given area, with little cost in the way of infrastructure.
Economic Impact
Overall Investment/Jobs
- Total cost of project at opening: $175 million
- Rutherford County jobs at park’s maturity of 5 years: 250 permanent, full-time jobs, 1,200 seasonal jobs
- Indirect jobs created: 2,633 full-time equivalents (total annual wages of $124M)
- Wages at park’s maturity of 5 years: $26 million annually
- Average Wages: Year One $ 39,651; Year Five $ 47,093
Construction Investment/Jobs
- Construction Only Cost of Project: estimated $120 million
- Construction Season (projected): Spring ’08–‘10
- Construction employment in 2008, estimated
- Direct jobs, inside the park: 605 jobs
- Indirect jobs (caused by park’s construction): 127 jobs
- Induced jobs (affected by park’s construction): 219 jobs
- Total construction employment impact: 951 jobs
- Construction wages paid by BPU: estimated $37 million annually
- Local construction employment increase as a result of BPU: 7% first year
- Total Economic Impact during the Construction Phase: $216 million
Tax Revenues to Rutherford County
- Sales Taxes: $6.7M annually with ticket tax; $2.38M annually without ticket tax
- Education Tax, year one: $844,425
- Total County Tax Revenues at year 5: $11.8M annually with ticket tax; $4.5M annually without ticket tax
- Project annual visitor spending at year 5: $39M
- Estimated portion of construction dollars generated in county: $56M
About the Principals
- SafeHarbor Holding, LLC, a New York City-based developer, is the project developer. SafeHarbor currently is building a Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, SC, a $400-million theme park with 40 attractions set to open April 2008. The Hard Rock Park has been billed as the “largest single tourism investment in South Carolina.”
- Armon Bar-Tur, co-founder and managing director of SafeHarbor Holding, LLC, is the project sponsor. Previously, Mr. Bar-Tur was employed as an Executive Director of the Investment Management division of Morgan Stanley in New York, New York, managing $750 million to $2 billion in mutual fund assets. Mr. Bar-Tur joined Morgan Stanley in 1996. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Bar-Tur worked for Merrill Lynch Asset Management in Princeton, New Jersey where he was employed as an Analyst from 1995 to 1996 and a Junior Analyst from 1993 to 1995. Mr. Bar-Tur is a graduate of Skidmore College with a degree in Business Administration. Mr. Bar-Tur is a Board Member of Foto + Synthesis, a non-profit arts organization. Mr. Bar-Tur is married to Rebecca Bar-Tur, and the couple has two children, a four-year-old daughter and one-year-old son. Mr. Bar-Tur, an American citizen, was born in England.
- Ronen Paldi, CEO of Bible Park USA, was born and raised in Israel and is an American citizen holding dual U.S./Israeli citizenship. Mr. Paldi studied at the School of Tourism in Tel Aviv and founded Ya’lla Tours USA, based in Portland, OR, in 1993. The company employs more than 15 professionals, and offers extensive tours and trips exclusively to the Mediterranean area, with a particular emphasis on the Holy Land Pilgrimages, sending thousands of Pilgrims each year to the Bible Lands. Mr. Paldi, inspired by so many pastors and community leaders who travel with his company annually, decided to bring beloved Bible stories and experiences to those who cannot make the trip to the Bible Lands.
The Park’s Design and Planning Team
- BRC Imagination Arts – Concept & Experiential Design
Founded in 1981, BRC Imagination Arts is a global leader in the design, creation and production of innovative and immersive, educational and entertainment experiences. BRC is charged with the concept and experience design of the Bible Park USA. The company works with the “who’s who” of the industry, including Walt Disney Parks, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, Universal Studios, Adler Planetarium, NASA, the National Health Museum and The Empire State Building. With offices in California, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, BRC has been honored with more than 250 international awards for creative excellence, including two Academy Award nominations and 12 Thea Awards for Outstanding Achievement in themed entertainment. - HOK Sports Venue Event – Master Planner/Architect
As the world’s leading architecture firm in design and construction of sports and venue facilities and event planning, HOK SVE’s tradition of innovation has transformed the way people have experienced events for nearly 25 years. The company, with offices in Nashville, Knoxville, Kansas City, MO, Denver, Brisbane and London, provides a wide range of services worldwide in the design, programming and management of fairgrounds, exhibition centers, conference centers, arenas, ballparks, stadiums, motor sport facilities, equestrian centers and theme parks. The company has developed master plans for fairs, exposition centers, and entertainment facilities throughout the United States, Australia and Canada. HOK SVE has conceived, planned, designed and built hundreds of facilities across the world, including the Calgary Convention Center, the Nashville Convention Center, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, LP Field in Nashville, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, the National Cycling Center in London and the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. The company has been selected to build facilities for the next five Olympics Games, in Beijing, China (2008), Vancouver, BC, Canada (2010), London, England, UK (2012), Sochi, Russia (2014) and Chicago, IL (2016). - RPM Transportation Consultants – Traffic Management
RPM Transportation Consultants has completed hundreds of traffic engineering, planning and parking studies. Major projects RPM has successfully undertaken include the Nashville Arena, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Downtown Nashville Transportation Plan, the 21st Avenue Transportation Plan, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Parking Study and Metro Nashville’s Strategic Plan for Sidewalks & Bikeways. - The O’Hanlon Group – Lighting Consultants
The O’Hanlon Group, headquartered in Knoxville, TN, has 52 years’ combined experience in designing and specifying lighting systems. The Group has extensive experience in municipal, event and attraction lighting system design. The O’Hanlon Group recommends forward cutting-edge lighting products and technologies that are environmentally-friendly and energy efficient, thus reducing dependency on non-domestic energy sources while promoting the expansion of new energy-producing methods. The company recommends “green” products and encourages all users of lighting products to apply sustainable lighting design practices to projects. - SH Acoustics – Sound Consultants
The purpose of SH Acoustics, based in Milford, CT, is to create truly great design in museums, exhibitions, galleries, performance and other public spaces. The company creates controlled acoustical environments and custom-crafts audio delivery systems to provide the ideal environment for telling a story, recreating a moment in history, or transporting the visitor to another time and place. - Barge Wagoner Sumner & Cannon – Engineer (Site, Utilities, & Structures)
Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon, Inc. is a 400-person professional services firm with twelve offices spread across the eastern half of the U.S. The company offers engineering (civil, structural, environmental, transportation, aviation, mechanical and electrical), architecture, planning, landscape architecture and surveying. BWSC is ranked 219th in Engineering News Record’s list of the top 500 engineering companies. - Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis – Law Firm
Founded in 1905, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP has offices in Nashville, Los Angeles and Birmingham. The firm has been recognized in several independent, national studies conducted by The BTI Consulting Group, Inc., as a law firm providing superior client service, a firm helping to shape the legal market, and a firm with an outstanding regional reputation and breadth of services. Waller Lansden has represented many significant companies in regional relocation and expansion activities; a seasoned, interdisciplinary team of Waller Lansden attorneys has extensive experience in the complexities and nuances of this type of work. In 2006, one of the world’s largest automakers relied on Waller Lansden to assist with the relocation of its North American headquarters to Tennessee. Waller Lansden’s relationship with the automaker dates back to 1981, when the firm was selected to represent the company in connection with the site selection and development of its first U.S. manufacturing facility. In 1995, Waller Lansden served as counsel to Tennessee’s first major league professional sports franchise in connection with the team’s relocation to Nashville. In 1994, the firm represented the world’s largest healthcare company in the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Nashville from Kentucky. - The Ingram Group – Public Affairs
Founded in 1982, The Ingram Group is a public affairs group with an experienced team of professionals with backgrounds in politics, government, business and sports. The Ingram Group was founded by Tom Ingram, former Deputy to then Governor Lamar Alexander and current Chief of Staff to Senator Lamar Alexander in the United States Senate. - Sterling Communications – Public Relations
Since 1989, Sterling Communications has provided expertise and experience in public relations, marketing, advertising and communications — all with a focus on strategic thinking, quality work and achievable results. The firm’s client list includes transit, health care, land planning, economic development, government and real estate. Terri H. Sterling, APR and principal, is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America. - University Research Group, LLC – Economic Impact Study
Dr. Mark L. Burton, University of Tennessee (UT) economist and UT Director of Transportation Economics, conducted an economic impact study on the project. Dr. Burton was awarded a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Tennessee in 1991. His professional career has included both academic and consulting research in the area of transportation and telecommunication economics. In August 2004, Dr. Burton was named Director of Transportation Economics at the University of Tennessee’s Center for Transportation Research. Additionally, Dr. Burton is a Research Associate Professor within UT’s Department of Economics.
