WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 – National Corvette Museum received a call at 5:44am from their security company alerting them of motion detectors going off in the Skydome area of the Museum. It was discovered that a sinkhole had collapsed within the Museum. No one was in or around the Museum at the time. The Bowling Green Fire Department arrived on the scene and secured the area. The Fire Department has estimated the size of the hole is 40 feet across and 25-30 feet deep.

The National Corvette Museum reports that eight Corvettes were affected by this incident. Those cars include:

1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors

The other six vehicles were owned by the National Corvette Museum including:

1962 Black Corvette
1984 PPG Pace Car
1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

None of the cars affected were on loan from individuals. The Skydome exhibit area of the Museum is a separate structure connected to the main Museum. A structural engineer is now on-site to assess the existing damage and stability of the surrounding areas. The Museum is closed to the public for the day to allow us to carefully assess the situation. We will keep everyone informed as we know more.

With the 20th Anniversary celebration, Grand Opening of the NCM Motorsports Park, and the National Corvette Caravan coming August 27-30, we’ve got a lot to be excited about in 2014, and look forward to getting the Skydome repaired and reopened very soon.

Construction Management Company Updates Community on Sinkhole Game Plan

On Thursday, February 13 the Museum held a press conference to update everyone on the game plan for the sinkhole. Mike Murphy, CEO of Scott, Murphy & Daniel Construction, shared that sinkholes are very common for this area, but that what is not common is for one to swallow eight Corvettes. He stated that it is repairable and the building foundation and structure is in good condition.

The plans for moving forward include securing the sinkhole and surrounding areas so that even if the Museum were to experience future sinkholes nearby it would not affect the Museum. It will take 2-3 weeks to stabilize and secure the area (the red spire, the walls of the sinkhole), after which the process of vehicle recovery will begin. The team will be making sure the sinkhole is safe and that no further damage will occur before starting vehicle recover.

The vehicle recovery process is anticipated to take 4-6 days to retrieve the vehicles. After that, they will replace the earth and floor system.

“We have a good plan and it takes action tomorrow [Friday],” stated Mike. He added that they don’t foresee any problems, and that they have accomplished a lot in the past 24 hours.

Museum Executive Director Wendell Strode added their confidence in the process being complete in time for the National Corvette Museum’s 20th Anniversary Celebration August 27-30 and the Grand Opening of the NCM Motorsports Park.

Sinkhole Security Camera Footage