Religious theme park proposed near Mesquite

      A huge vision of Jesus may appear to motorists on Interstate 15, if a group of developers gets its way.
      It won't be a miraculous apparition, but a 33-story statue towering over a religious theme park proposed near Mesquite.
      Partners with Nevada-based Quorum International Ltd. say they have much of the financial backing needed to build their $1.6 billion Holy Land Theme Park on 3,200 acres bordering, of course, the Virgin River.
      Daxx Edder, the company's chief executive officer, says he has faith his group will be able to negotiate a transfer of the federal land through the city of Mesquite.
      City officials support the plan, he said.
      But three City Council members interviewed Friday said they never heard of the proposal.
      "Certainly nobody has talked to me about it," said Councilwoman Alice Fessenden. "I'm just wondering how are they going to mix Jesus in with these casinos."
      Edder, who keeps offices in Las Vegas and British Columbia, said building the theme park has been his dream since a friend suggested it in 1938.
      He and his Canadian partner, Stephan Venczel, say the for-profit, nondenominational facility will "promote better understanding among men," or at least among the 50 million tourists they expect will visit Holy Land annually. Last year, Las Vegas just passed the 30 million visitor mark.
      "There's been too much that's happened in human history that has driven men apart," Venczel said Thursday. "It's about time that something came along to bring them together."
      The duo said they chose Mesquite because the area long has been an American Indian religious ground. Besides, the terrain resembles Israel, Edder noted.
      "The whole area has an uplifting feeling about it, a spiritual tone," he said of Mesquite. "The people seem inordinarily close to God."
      Mesquite is where a citizens group called HOME, or Help Our Moral Environment, worked around the clock for years protesting the Pure Pleasure adult book and video store, which they dubbed "Satan's Library." The city ultimately changed its zoning, forcing the business to shut down.
      Once they clinch the real estate deal, the partners say they will invite chiefs of the nation's Indian tribes to bless the land. Then they will invite the leaders of the world's religions, including Pope John Paul II, whom they are confident will come.
      After the blessings are given, the group will break ground within 30 days, said the partners, who hope to complete the theme park in five to eight years.
      Plans include a 500,000-square-foot convention center to house information booths for any religion that wants to participate; interactive and live displays depicting the 66 books of the King James version of the Bible; camel rides and a Noah's Ark zoo featuring two animals of every kind.
      They also plan a re-creation of the Red Sea parting, "which a team of scientists is working on as we speak," Edder said.
      For atheists, there will be a simulation of hell complete with trap doors and holograms of lost souls.
      The partners had considered simulating heaven but, Edder said, "That's something we can't make because we don't know what it's like yet."
      The Christ statue and observation tower planned as the jewel of Holy Land will rise 33 stories, representing Jesus' age when he died, Edder said. Four elevators will carry tourists to a glassed-in head depicting the three faces of the father, son and holy spirit.
      Smoking, drinking, cursing and gambling will be prohibited in the park.
      "We won't in any way compete with the casinos in Nevada," Venczel said. "The Moral Majority is going to love us."
      The partners hope to attract casino patrons who might want to make religious pilgrimages after visiting Las Vegas.
      "Sin City is very close by. So if you don't like one, you can choose the other," Edder said. "We'll bring people to Nevada who otherwise wouldn't come."
      Edder is scheduled to brief Mesquite City Council members about his project at their Tuesday meeting.
      The partners say city officials should welcome their theme park, which they estimate will bring the city 25,000 jobs. Its current population is about 8,500.
      "The city is arranging to acquire that land for us" from the federal government, Edder said.
      But City Manager Bill Da Vee said, "We haven't agreed to do that."
      In exchange for the city's help in procuring the Holy Land site, the group says it will fund an airport on Mesquite's Flattop Mesa, a facility that would accommodate jetliners. City officials have eyed such a project as a way to lure more tourists.
      "If we'll have to finance the airport in order to get the land, we'll do that," Edder said.
      Edder and Venczel say they have financed and produced several major films, but refused to cite which ones. They claim their investment group consists of 58 partners, including "several famous people" whom they declined to name.
      Asked why Mesquite officials and Southern Nevadans should expect Holy Land to actually get built, Venczel answered, "Why shouldn't they?"
      "If one were to become involved in a project known as the Holy Land, there would have to be more driving one than simply greed," he said. "This isn't about profits, it's about religion. There's a big difference."