Kentucky's National Corvette Museum marks 10 years since sinkhole that swallowed 8 rare cars

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The National Corvette Museum is marking the 10th anniversary of a sinkhole that turned into a gold mine.

At about 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 12, 2014, a sinkhole opened up under the museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Surveillance cameras captured the moment eight rare Chevrolet Corvettes were swallowed into the ground.

The museum didn't allow the damage to its building and its multimillion-dollar collection to put a dent in its operation.

“It was a moment in time for the museum, and it certainly put a lot of exposure and attention on the museum," Ryan Eichler, director of Marketing for the National Corvette Museum, said. "It then really helped us kind of build and create a museum that was able to really commemorate Corvette and build on that legacy of innovation that continues today.”

Over the past 10 years, the museum has created 15 major exhibits, undergone tens of millions of dollars in renovations and improvements, created a STEAM-focused education gallery and added a Motorsports Park to the campus. It will soon be unveiling a new exhibit to commemorate what it called “surviving the sinkhole."

“Ground to Sky: The Sinkhole Reimagined” will document the moments, memories, and machines that made history that day.

General Motors restored three of the cars, while the others were left to be put on display at the museum.

The exhibit will feature two Corvettes that were recovered from the sinkhole and fully restored, a 2009 "Blue Devil" ZR1 and the 1 Millionth Corvette (a white '92 model).

The exhibit will open to the public on Friday, June 14, 2024, and will run through September 15.

To learn more about the National Corvette Museum, click here.

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