Here's sad news for Corvette enthusiasts.
WGNS News learned that at 5:44 Wednesday morning, officials with the Corvette Museum received a call from their security company alerting them that the motion detectors were going off in our Skydome area of the Museum.
In a written statement from Marketing and Communications Manager Katie Frassinelli, "Upon arrival it was discovered that a sinkhole had collapsed within the Museum. No one was in or around the Museum at the time.
Video of Floor Collapsing and Cars Falling
CLICK HERE: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Syfif2eF-PwKw8EkYQ3hW12km1LzacC
Museum Executive Director Wendell Strode told media that the sinkhole was approximately 40-feet wide and 25 to 30-feet deep.
The Bowling Green Fire Department arrived on the scene and secured the area.
She noted, "It is with heavy hearts that we report that eight Corvettes were affected by this incident. None of the cars affected were on loan from individuals. We have contacted a structural engineer who is arriving today to assess the existing damage and stability of the surrounding areas. While the Skydome area is closed, the remainder of the Museum is still open."
If you're trying to picture the Skydome, it is the most visible part of the museum from the outside. Inside the museum, this is the area where some of the rare Corvettes are placed for public viewing. It appears that none of the vehicles owned by private individuals that were displayed in the Skydome were affected.
Sinkhole Took Corvettes
- 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
This year we celebrate our 20th Anniversary and look forward to re-opening the Skydome exhibit area very soon. The museum is in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which is only 95 miles from Murfreesboro. It is located just off interstate 65, and across the street from the Corvette factory, where General Motors assembles the sports cars.
Like Murfreesboro, Bowling Green is in a karst area, in fact it is Kentucky's largest cave area. The limestone geography creates numerous underground streams and caverns. Many of those are said to link with a major tourist attraction in the area: Mammouth Cave. Speleologists have also thought there might be a connection of the series of caverns in this part of Middle Tennessee with Mammouth Cave as well.
"Live" Corvette Cam
A "live" cam in the Corvette Museum usually shows cyber visitors some of the exhibits. Today you see firefighters at the scene.
