At first, officials of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, decided to keep open as a tourist attraction the sinkhole that developed underneath their museum and swallowed eight of their prized Corvettes in February. But then common sense prevailed and they decided to fill in the sinkhole instead. The sinkhole had become a temporary tourist attraction, boosting the museum’s attendance by 66% in 2014, but the cost of retaining a portion of the hole for a longer term would have outstripped the financial benefit say museum officials. Instead, the hole will be filled with rock, steel casings and a concrete pillar for a stronger foundation for the floor of the museum. General Motors has pledged to provide $250,000 toward the cost of filling in the hole.
Six of the eight cars were owned outright by the museum and two were on loan from GM. Of these, three will be restored – a 1962 black Corvette, a 1992 white Corvette that was the one millionth Corvette sold and a 2009 Corvette ZR1 Blue Devil – with Chevrolet picking up the costs for restoring the 1962 Corvette. The other five will be put on permanent display in their damaged conditions.
Repairs are expected to begin in November and the museum is expected to be ready for a re-opening in Spring 2015.