Museum opens with a big bang

A Kentucky museum that tells the Bible’s version of Earth’s history -- that the planet was created in a single week just a few thousand years ago -- attracted thousands to its opening as protesters rallied outside.

The privately funded Creation Museum had more than 4,000 guests on opening day Monday, said Mark Looy, a co-founder of the $27-million facility in Petersburg, Ky., 20 miles southwest of Cincinnati. The parking lot was filled with license plates from dozens of states.

“The guests were very happy with the museum experience,” Looy said. “Of course, we had some naysayers come through and engage us in conversation, and that’s fine -- we want them.”

The dozens of demonstrators contend that the Creation Museum’s central tenets conflict with scientific evidence that the Earth is several billion years old.