A former photographer for the soft-core porn magazine Penthouse is now one of the driving forces behind a non-denominational Bible theme park, The Tennessean reported.
Amnon Bar-Tur, a co-founder of the investment firm backing the theme park, photographed covers and centerfolds for the magazine in the 1970s, the story reported.
The non-denominational park — which would feature Colonial Williamsburg-like re-enactments of ancient life, theaters for Broadway-sized biblical musicals and other attractions based on stories in the Bible — has drawn opposition from Blackman residents who are concerned about traffic and how well a large tourist attraction would fit in with the character of their neighborhood. They also believe developers’ estimates of 1.5 million visitors a year are overstated.
Bar-Tur’s business dealings have also come under scrutiny.
Little has been made public about the elder Bar-Tur, his ties to Penthouse or his link to a company called C2 Media that in October 2001 sought federal bankruptcy protection. C2 Media, which Amnon Bar-Tur helped found, owed money to several financial institutions, including almost $35 million to JP Morgan Chase.
In a statement released hours after the developments were posted on a WKRN-Channel 2 blog, Armon Bar-Tur called the report distorted and irrelevant.
“Surely what a young immigrant photographer did 35 years ago to make a living in his first job out of college as a fashion photographer has no relevance to the development of our world-class tourist attraction in Rutherford County in 2008,” Armon Bar-Tur said.
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Say it isn’t so!
I have been following this story on my blog, The Writing on the Wall.
First the release, then the environmental hubbub (noted here: http://hiscrivener.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/whale-of-a-ride-god-vs-nature/)
And now this… well, I am linking to this and honestly, I hope you link to the “Wall”. I like your blog considerably. Keep in touch!
Peace.
http://hiscrivener.wordpress.com