COMPASS
SOUTH CENTRAL U.S.
When a sinkhole opened up inside the National Corvette
Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, two years ago, it swallowed eight Corvettes that had been on display in the facility’s Skydome area. Museum officials focused on retrieving
and repairing the cars, but as national media outlets picked
up the news, a new plan emerged.
“The story absolutely captivated those who watched it, and
while the museum initially planned to put the past behind
them, interest in the sinkhole and the damaged Corvettes
was undeniable,” says Debbie Eaton, the attraction’s group
sales coordinator.
To satisfy the continuing curiosity about the sinkhole
and the rare sports cars it devoured, the museum created
a new exhibit, “Corvette Cave-In: The Skydome Sinkhole
Experience.” Eight interactive displays tell the sinkhole story:
“The Day,” “Media Coverage,” “Pop Culture,” “Cars Affected,”
“The Recovery,” “Karst Landscapes,” “What It Took to Fix the
Sinkhole” and “The Grand Finale.”
Groups can also tour the renovated Skydome, which
reopened last summer, and get a look at all eight Corvettes
rescued from the sinkhole. One car, a 1962 black Corvette,
will undergo repair in the museum’s new maintenance and
preservation department, and visitors can watch the restoration work.
NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM
The sinkhole fix … and fixation
Eight rare or one-of-a-kind Corvettes were retrieved from the sinkhole that opened Feb. 12, 2014, at the National Corvette Museum.
A line on the floor outlines where the sinkhole was, and a
48-inch manhole allows visitors to peer into a window to see
the bottom of the sinkhole more than 30 feet down.
For details about the museum, located just off Interstate 65,
email Eaton at [email protected] or visit corvette
museum.org.
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July 2016