Cornerstone Church set to unveil $5 million Noah's Ark for kids

Cornerstone Church Executive Pastor Matthew Hagee said the church's new Ark children's building aims to underscore the Bible's authenticity. “I want them to say it happened,” he said. Cornerstone Church Executive Pastor Matthew Hagee said the church's new Ark children's building aims to underscore the Bible's authenticity. “I want them to say it happened,” he said. Photo: Photos By John Davenport / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Photos By John Davenport / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Cornerstone Church set to unveil $5 million Noah's Ark for kids 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

From the outside, the new children's building at Cornerstone Church is just another white brick edifice on the sprawling North Side campus.

On the inside, it has Noah's Ark built into its walls and roof, a two-story ship with 16 life-sized passengers — most with animatronic features, including a giraffe whose head bends from the floor to the second level.

In its 13 classrooms, high resolution wallpaper has animal themes, from bears and birds to safari and farm beasts.

Called The Ark, it cost almost $5 million and will open to the public Saturday and for church programs the next day. It aims to spur wonderment but also to underscore the Bible's authenticity, said Matthew Hagee, executive pastor.

“I want them to say it happened,” he said. “The Ark was real. Salvation is real. What God desires for Noah, God desires for me. For Noah, it was a boat. And for me, it was Jesus Christ.”

In recent years, churches nationwide have ramped up resources for innovative children's buildings, mindful of their appeal to young families, and Noah's Ark has enjoyed longstanding popularity for such spaces. A Christian theme park in Kentucky is building a full-scale replica.

But the scale and sophistication of Cornerstone's new facility — and particularly its collection of electronically controlled animal replicas — might be unmatched nationally, say experts in Christian children's ministry.

“You'd be hard-pressed to find any church with animatronics,” said Michael Chanley, executive director of the International Network of Children's Ministry, which maintains a social media network of 10,000-plus members worldwide.

“It communicates so much value to the family. 'We don't just want your kids to come here and learn. We want them to experience God,'” he said.

More Information The Ark's public viewing What: a new children’s building with a Noah’s Ark built in and 16 life-size animals inside. Where: Cornerstone Church, 18755 Stone Oak Parkway When: Noon to 4 p.m., March 16 Info: 210-490-1600, sacornerstone.org

Churches today must compete against “the whiz-bang, Disney stuff,” Chanley added. “Kids are learning from the immersive environments, online or in real life.”

Construction began on the 28,400-square-foot structure in November 2011. It is designed to handle about 850 children.

The cost was covered by cash donations from the congregation. The church has adopted a debt-free policy since paying off its sanctuary mortgage in 2008.

Cornerstone was founded in 1975 by Matthew Hagee's father, John Hagee, and the campus at Stone Oak Parkway and Loop 1604 has added new buildings since opening its 5,000-seat sanctuary in 1987. Eventually, the church wants to expand its sanctuary to hold at one sitting the 8,200 who attend its two Sunday services.

The Ark has vestibule entrances with outdoor scenes of the ship's hull, crafted with alder wood panels. At one vestibule will be a talking macaw playing host.

Each of the animals in the central area of the hull — from a tortoise, sheep and zebra to a rhinoceros, lion and elephant — will be named for a great church figure from history, Matthew Hagee said, as a springboard to lessons on John Bunyan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Charles Wesley and others.

Nine of the 16 creatures will be animatronic, created by Animal Makers, a Southern California firm that specializes in robotic animals for Hollywood movies.

Some are new, and some were formerly leased. The rhino, for example, had a short appearance in the John Cusack film “2012,” Hagee said.

By design, the church sought out realism in its animals and ark, said the project's architect, Dan Wigodsky, a member of the local Jewish community who designed the other Cornerstone buildings there.

“It was important that it really feel more real than just a playground,” he said. “We never wanted a curtain to look behind. No place where it gave it away.”

Church leaders said they also considered the fear tolerance of children with such realism — but concluded the value of biblical authenticity outweighed the chance it would scare children.

The ceiling above the central area is painted with clouds and sky and two 30-foot shooting stars. There are 400 simulated candles to create day and night environments. Inside classrooms are carpet floors and ceiling tiles resembling wood planking.

Asked whether the animatronics was too extravagant, Hagee said no — not when today's culture bombards children with competing venues for their attention on Sundays, from recreational sports to theme parks to kid-themed pizza restaurants.

“If casinos can build opulent buildings to incentivize gamblers to want to come and enjoy their weekend, how then can you justify not building something that would incentivize people to come and hear about the Word of God?” he said. “I don't have any problem with somebody saying it's over the top.”

Children's ministry experts agreed.

“Churches are competing with things that capture kids' attention,” said Christine Yount Jones, executive editor of Children's Ministry Magazine. “Not every church can afford the animatronics.... But every church should do something that pulls in and loves children.”