BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — More than 10 years ago, a sinkhole opened up at Bowling Green’s National Corvette Museum.
On Feb. 12, 2024, the 40-foot sinkhole swallowed eight prized-possession Corvettes.
Merrick Duet, a tourist at the National Corvette Museum, said, “Honestly, didn’t expect them being completely destroyed. I mean, it’s insane to think that an old car like that, you know, they were thought to be tough and stuff like that, but they were completely demolished by that sinkhole.”
Now, visitors can learn more about the disaster. The National Corvette Museum has set out old relics of the disaster to commemorate the 10-year anniversary. Two of the destroyed cars on display are the 1993 Corvette ZR-1 Spyder and the 2009 1.5 Millionth Corvette.
“These are two of the cars that fell into the sinkhole, two of the eight, these two were unfortunately too far gone to be restored,” said Robert Maxhimer, director of curatorial affairs at the museum.
Visitors are also able to see the keys to each of the cars, as well as smaller relics from the vehicles, including a Z-06 plate.
“That came off the 2001 Corvette. The Mallet Hammer is what we called it. This is a plate that sat in between the seats in the car,” Maxhimer said.
The exhibit aims to highlight the history of the museum and show how it has overcome the struggles that stemmed from the disaster over the past 10 years.
Duet said, “It’s insane just the amount of work and effort just to make sure they get back to what they originally were.’”
Maxhimer said, “We developed into one of the best educational facilities in the region. We’re able to reinvent ourselves and our galleries on a rotating basis.”
The exhibit will be up through Sep. 15.