LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB)---Six months later, and the massive sinkhole remains at the National Corvette Museum. However, that will soon change.
Eight corvettes were swallowed by the sinkhole in mid-February. They are now back inside the room where it all took place.
Since that time, the museum has seen a 63 percent increase in attendance. Some include new tourists like Jerry Tindel from Florida, who was just passing by.
“And we said hey, look, I wonder if this is the one where the sinkhole was and we seen the signs and said let's pull in and check it out,” said Jerry Tindel.
Tindel is snapping photos of the cars and sinkhole before work begins to fix the damage.
Corvette Museum officials say, they wanted to leave the skydome room as is, so that thousands of people attending their 20th anniversary celebration at the end of August will get to see it all.
"September 2nd is when General Motors is planning on picking up the 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil to begin the restoration process on that,” said Katie Frassinelli, with the National Corvette Museum.
After that, Frassinelli says board members will decide what other cars they plan to restore, and have debated leaving some on display for the future.
As for the sinkhole that got worldwide attention, officials say they hope to fill part of it.
They would like to keep part of it as a tourist attraction and are still trying to determine if this is possible.
“A 25 foot by 45 foot section that's about 30 feet deep. We do hope to have a bridge that goes over it. The hole will still be left open, no plexiglass or anything on top,” says Frassinelli.
Tourists like Jerry Tindel say this would be a smart move.
“It's kinda like when you go to NASCAR or you go to NHRA, everybody goes for the race, but they also look for what they call the big one. You could say this was like the big one for the corvette museum,” said Jerry Tindel.
The Corvette Museum's 20th anniversary celebration will take place August 27-30. The skydome area will close in mid to late September to the public, so repairs can begin.
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