Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Kentucky is paying $190,000 in attorney fees to the Christian group that won a tourism tax benefit for a Noah’s ark attraction that will open soon in central Kentucky.

The state was on the losing side of a federal ruling in January that awarded a tourism sales tax incentive to the Ark Encounter worth up to $18 million. Officials under former Gov. Steve Beshear rejected the project’s application in 2014 for the tax benefit, saying state tourism funds “cannot be used to fund religious indoctrination.”

The Christian group building the ark, Answers in Genesis, challenged that decision in federal court and won. The ark opens to tourists July 7.

A federal court filing last month ordered the state’s tourism cabinet to send a check for $190,000 within 20 days.

Atheists stymied on anti-Ark Park billboards