TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
'Ark' Still Awash With Unanswered Questions
Tribune photo by GEORGE NEWMAN
This building off Interstate 4 is under construction, but what the project will house when completed is not common knowledge.
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Published: May 6, 2008
Updated: 05/07/2008 12:03 am
PLANT CITY - The setting could hardly be more surreal.
On one side of Branch Forbes Road at Interstate 4 sits a full-size dinosaur replica advertising a theme park. On the other, there's a building that looks like Noah's ark - with a large deck attached.
The arklike building across from Dinosaur World has been attracting the attention of passing motorists since construction started last year. It's not clear what kind of a business the building will house once construction is done. For that matter, it's not clear when work will wrap up.
The owner, George Hansen of New York City, said in a brief interview that he originally planned it as a war memorial. "But there are a lot of unanswered questions and I'm just not ready to discuss the project at this time," he said.
The building wasn't modeled after the biblical ark, even though the resemblance is striking. Even Hansen's designer said he's heard it called that.
"People call it the ark, for obvious reasons," said Edrahim Mehrani, owner of DCI Solutions in Lutz. "But we are not sure what the final use will be. The building is up for lease, and the tenant will make the final decision."
A banner draped on the building offers the property for lease as a restaurant. The deck would accommodate outdoor dining, Mehrani said.
Three more buildings are planned for the 8.7-acre site, including one that will display works of art and another where movies of historical events will be shown, he said.
Hansen first proposed a "war memorial gift shop" on the land in late 1997, according to Hillsborough County building department records.
The county's planning and zoning division said the owner changed the intended use of the two-story, 100-foot long building to a golf gift shop in 2003.
Marlene Svensson, manager of Dinosaur World, said the construction on the opposite side of Branch Forbes Road has her guests asking questions.
"Every day a visitor to our park will ask about it," Svensson said.
She's heard it will be a restaurant, but she hasn't heard when work might be completed. "The sooner the better, as far as we are concerned."
Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451 or gnewman@tampatrib.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( RobKay ) on May 7, 2008 at 12:26 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Don't you have to tell someone what you're building when you apply for a permit? It looks like something someone would have built as a tourist trap 60 or 70 years ago.
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Posted by ( Mustang04 ) on May 7, 2008 at 12:34 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
it looks like an ark
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Posted by ( Frankie_Fla ) on May 7, 2008 at 12:54 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Maybe the tourists can get cheap lodging across the highway in the half buried RV's.
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Posted by ( mr_hanky ) on May 7, 2008 at 1:11 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
WTF?? Are they waiting for the dinosaurs to cross the road?
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Posted by ( mprice12 ) on May 7, 2008 at 1:49 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Maybe they are planning ahead for global warming to flood all of FL. Then who will be laughing? HAHAHHAHAHA Who cares what they build, if it isn't hurting anyone. :) We mind other's business way too much.
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Posted by ( whasup ) on May 7, 2008 at 2:11 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Cool. I love a good mystery.
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Posted by ( StPetePilot ) on May 7, 2008 at 4:03 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Doesn't it strike one as a bit strange that one would build something without knowing what it's final intent is going to be?
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Posted by ( dzeien ) on May 7, 2008 at 5:13 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
it's a tribute to Tampa's architect approval comittee.
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Posted by ( zteam55 ) on May 7, 2008 at 6:45 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Good ole Plant City....
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Posted by ( Coast2Coast ) on May 7, 2008 at 6:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
It's the new habitat for the missing monkeys.
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Posted by ( Bender ) on May 7, 2008 at 7:26 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by ( altedbaseball ) on May 7, 2008 at 7:49 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
i heard joe is moving the mons out there, the dancers/girls from plant city will work for less.
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Posted by ( signit4bes ) on May 7, 2008 at 9 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Are you sure you want two of each species from around here?
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Posted by ( Kowabunga ) on May 7, 2008 at 10:08 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Maybe the guy is building this ark so when the residents of Plant City actually come to the realization that they live in Plant City the tears of regret won't drown him and his family.
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Posted by ( skeeter ) on May 7, 2008 at 10:15 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Never, ever trust a developer who isn't open about what he wants to do. I hope the media takes a closer look at Mr. Hansen.
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Posted by ( DarthRandall ) on May 7, 2008 at 10:45 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Is there ANYTHING they won't build in that part of the county?
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Posted by ( mel77712 ) on May 7, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Maybe he was told to build it by God and he doesn't want people to know b/c noone would believe him. Or he saw that ark movie (darn I forgot what it is called) and decided to make a profit out of something no else thought of doing.
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Posted by ( noneya ) on May 7, 2008 at 2:53 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Um.. It doesn't look anything like the boat that some people imagine is Noah's magical ark. Not even slightly. If anything, it looks like a yacht of some kind. It would be best used as a fish and chip joint. Maybe they can serve chips that don't resemble Jesus at all but claim to. Maybe install a big stained glass window in the front and claim that if you buy some Jesus chips you'll see the "virgin" Mary appear in the window. Now, that would be a moneymaker.
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Posted by ( flpeep ) on May 7, 2008 at 3:11 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Hey wait a minute, this guy's building an ark, and our drought is officially coming to an end... Coincidence?
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Posted by ( mel77712 ) on May 7, 2008 at 3:59 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Are we really coming out of a drought it sure doesn't feel like it.
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Posted by ( RevThaddeusPaulk ) on May 7, 2008 at 6:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Wood I? Wood I?
Hell no, I would arc weld it.
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Posted by ( NOTAFAN ) on May 7, 2008 at 7:14 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Lets see...
An 'ark' across the street from the 'dino' tourist trap.
Maybe they're gonna put in one of those fundamentalist 'museums' where Adam & Eve lived with dinosaurs.
The home turf of Ronda Storms would be just about the most perfect place in Florida for that kind if VOODOO Science/Creationism stuff.
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Posted by ( yankeejib ) on May 7, 2008 at 7:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
If you drive by real slow, look at the big tree behind the ark. If you squint, you can see the Virgin Mary.
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Posted by ( ozzythewarrior ) on May 7, 2008 at 10:48 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I thought the ark from the bible was square
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Posted by ( kimbo ) on May 8, 2008 at 7:51 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Ain't Freedom great His Land,His Money,His Happiness.
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Posted by ( freedomfighter ) on May 8, 2008 at 8:07 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
YAAARRRrrrrrr!!!! its a boat, its a plane,its a , its a, its a restraunt? r they gonna serve gator there .
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Posted by ( ratman ) on May 8, 2008 at 8:53 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
It's okay to build an ark by the interstate but you better not stick some RV's in the ground and call it art (um... sorta, I guess)!! Ark, yes. Art, nope..
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Posted by ( Concerned1963 ) on May 8, 2008 at 9:21 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Actually, those RV's are a pretty bad distraction..... just watch people weave a bit when they see them! As far as this building goes, I've never noticed it, so although it looks tacky in the picture, I have no other opinion, except to say that the article WAS A COLOSSAL WASTE OF MY TIME!
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Posted by ( midnightone ) on May 8, 2008 at 10:10 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Noah's Ark? How the hell does anyone really know what it looked like? Was anyone here alive back then? Sure, some people have old fashioned views but really now....
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Posted by ( BrassBowldotOrg ) on May 8, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
It's a CUBIT, not CUBIC.
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Posted by ( Reality ) on May 8, 2008 at 12:28 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Who'd Hansen pay off to get away with putting up this junk?
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Posted by ( stinebrian ) on May 8, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
He told me that it is going to be a Bigfoot habitat. He just wants to see the surprise on the Bigfoot faces when he hands them the keys. So, keep this on the DL, okay?
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Posted by ( grammypam ) on May 8, 2008 at 7:23 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Everyone thought Noah was crazy, too! Remember how that turned out?
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Posted by ( FreightTrain ) on May 8, 2008 at 7:35 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
The most shocking part of this article is that apparently Dinosaur World gets at least one visitor a day. That deserves a week-long investigative report.
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Posted by ( RobKay ) on May 8, 2008 at 7:42 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
"If you build it they will come." But who the hell are they?
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Posted by ( angryamerican ) on May 8, 2008 at 9:09 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I went by there with a friend, and she was thrilled to see it. She said that on a recent trip out of Florida she had dined in a place up there that was called The Ark, and that it looked exactly like that. She said there is a chain of these resturants.
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Posted by ( mcmurphy7 ) on May 9, 2008 at 9:45 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
It's already been "flooded" heh, heh, heh....
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Posted by ( T11 ) on May 9, 2008 at 9:59 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
If you aren't having fun, you aren't doing it right.
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