Sinkhole Destroys Corvettes in the National Corvette Museum

[Corvsport.com Administrator]

February 12, 2014 - Bowling Green, KY:

Eight Corvettes were destroyed this morning after an enormous sinkhole opened up beneath a section of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. 

Motion detectors at the museum alerted officials at 5:44 a.m. CST Wednesday morning after a disturbance was detected in the Skydome Hall of Fame section of the museum. By the time museum officials arrived at the building, they discovered a sinkhole approximately 40 feet wide and 25 to 30 feet deep. The Bowling Green Fire Department was also alerted and were called in to secure the area.  Structural engineers were called in to assess the damage. 

Museum spokeswoman Katie Frassinelli said no one was in the museum at the time.  No injuries were reported.

Frassinelli also released a statement identifying the cars that were affected by the sinkhole. They include:

• A 1993 ZR-1 Spyder (on loan from General Motors.)
• A 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” (on loan from General Motors.)
• A 1962 Black Corvette (owned by the Corvette Museum.)
• A 1984 PPG Pace Car (owned by the Corvette Museum.)
• A 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette (owned by the Corvette Museum.)
• A 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette (owned by the Corvette Museum.)
• A 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette (owned by the Corvette Museum.)
• A 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette (owned by the Corvette Museum.)

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The museum will remain open today, though the Skydome will remain closed to everyone, including employees, until is deemed structurally sound.

Bowling Green city spokeswoman Kim Lancaster said information was still being gathered about what exactly happened, but it appeared to be the first problem of its kind at the property.

Bowling Green sits in the midst of the state's largest karst region — the Western Pennyroyal area, where many of Kentucky's longest and deepest caves run underground.  A karst display distinctive surface features, including sinkholes.

The museum is set to host the 2014 Corvette Caravan in late August, a celebration marking the 20th anniversary of the museum. 

Although the event is still several months away, 1,200 people already are registered for the 2014 Corvette Caravan that will mark the 20th anniversary of the National Corvette Museum. Museum officials expect car clubs from all 50 states and Canada to converge on Bowling Green for the celebration.

[Corvsport.com Administrator]

The National Corvette Museum reports that all of the other Corvettes that were on display in the Skydome have been safely removed from that space. The big question now is how they are going to get to the 8 cars in the sinkhole.

[Corvsport.com Administrator]

At 5:00 p.m. CST, the National Corvette Museum issued an updated statement about the sinkhole in the Skydome portion of the museum:

"In our effort to continue to provide up to date information...



The National Corvette Museum will be open beginning Thursday, February 13 for tours. The Skydome portion of the tour will be closed to the public. The Museum is open daily, 8am-5pm CT and is located at I-65 exit 28.



The structural engineering firm did determine that the perimeter of the Skydome is stable. We have worked with our insurance adjustor to retain Scott, Murphy and Daniel as our construction manager and they will be coordinating all work moving forward.



All cars that were on display in the Museum's Skydome not affected by the sinkhole have been safely removed.



As an update, photos of the sinkhole, cars that were affected (before the collapse), and readerboard information on each car can be viewed and downloaded here.



Video footage, including surveillance footage of the sinkhole collapse, helicopter drone footage inside the sinkhole and more are on our You Tube channel here.



Those wishing to make financial contributions to the Museum may do so on our website here. "