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PETERSBURG, Ky. (BP)—Nearly a year after it opened, the Creation Museum near Cincinnati still has its secular detractors, but its success in attendance is erasing any doubts it can succeed.

Officials with the museum say they surpassed the one-year attendance goal in only seven months, drawing 290,000 visitors through the end of 2007. When the museum opened on Memorial Day with protesters outside, Creation Museum officials said their 12-month goal in attendance was 250,000. They passed the 300,000 mark Jan. 9.

Located in Petersburg, Ky., the high-tech, $27 million, 60,000-square-foot museum and planetarium present a scientific view of the biblical creation account—in essence, a creationist answer to popular natural history museums. In fact, one of the goals of the museum—which is a product of the ministry Answers in Genesis (online at AnswersInGenesis.org)—was to rival the artistic elements of natural history museums. The Creation Museum says the earth is thousands, not millions, of years old.

Media attention—even though it hasn’t been all positive—has helped get the word out about the museum. Mark Looy, a vice president for Answers in Genesis, said 200 media outlets—including four Swiss ones—have either visited the museum or conducted telephone interviews.

The museum has grown since it opened and continues to do so:

• Some 600 parking spaces will be added in the coming months.

• A 4,500-square-foot, two-story “Dinosaur Den” opened in the museum last summer. It features sculpted dinosaurs and dinosaur bones and shows where creationists believe dinosaurs fit in the Genesis account.

• A fourth planetarium program will be added this year, bringing the total number of such programs to four.

Additionally, the museum now is holding lectures by Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham and other staff.

The museum (online at CreationMuseum.org) does tackle some of the tougher objections to creationism, such as how the speed of light and the size of the universe fit in a young earth model. The museum—which during construction had the services of a former designer of Universal Studios theme parks rides—has roaring animatronic dinosaurs, more than 50 educational videos and a special effects theater complete with three screens, vibrating seats, simulated wind and mist.