Story highlightsMuseum in Kentucky wanted to preserve 40-foot-wide sinkhole, citing significance and...

1. Corvette museum won't keep sinkhole after all
Story highlightsMuseum in Kentucky wanted to preserve 40-foot-wide sinkhole, citing significance
and appeal to visitorsBut preservation would be more expensive than filling it, board saysSinkhole
swallowed eight Corvettes in February; three are to be restoredThe other five, still damaged, will be
displayedThe virtual cathedral for one of America's most revered cars will reluctantly fill a monster
sinkhole that brought it both pain and gain.
The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, also said Saturday it and Chevrolet will
restore three of the eight vehicles that the 45-foot-wide hole swallowed in February, but will leave
the remains of the five others -- too wrecked to fix -- on display.
"We really wanted to preserve a portion of the hole so that guests for years to come could see a little
bit of what it was like, but after receiving more detailed pricing, the costs outweighs the benefit,"
museum Executive Director Wendell Strode said.
Why was the hole's filling ever in doubt? Visitor traffic since February jumped 70% compared to the
same period last year, as people lined up to see not only the brand's past but also the newly mangled
vehicles and gaping earth, museum spokeswoman Katie Frassinelli said.
But the board learned that preserving part of the hole would cost $1 million more than it would to
fill the whole thing. And the effort required to keep it safe -- eyesores like 35-foot retaining walls and
steel beams -- made preservation even less appealing, Frassinelli said.
"That's no longer a naturally occurring, interesting sinkhole," she said.
The sinkhole. (Click to expand)
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2. The hole is 60 feet deep. (Click to expand)
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Frassinelli said the museum isn't revealing how much the renovation will cost. The project will start
sometime after early November.
The privately funded, not-for-profit attraction has gone from shock to proudly displaying its own
spectacular damage in months.
The ground opened at the museum's Skydome section in the early morning of February 12.
Surveillance video showed the hole devouring some of the eight cars that it took down.
The hole was measured at about 45 feet wide, 60 feet long and up to 30 feet deep.
Western Kentucky is cave country, and it turned out a previously undetected cave was under the
Skydome, Frassinelli said. Sinkholes pop up regularly in the area, sometimes caused by ground
water eroding underground limestone over many years.
After experts examined the cave and determined the rest of the facility was safe, the museum
reopened -- and started letting visitors view the sinkhole behind plexiglass five days after the
incident.
By late April, visitors could walk into the Skydome and stand just feet from the hole's edge. The
museum also brought up the fallen cars -- some sliced or mashed -- and put them on display as
mangled as they were found.
But on Saturday the museum announced three cars would be restored, including a 2009 ZR1
prototype known as the Blue Devil, among GM's fastest production cars. Also getting restored: the 1-
millionth Corvette produced (a white 1992 convertible), and a 1962 tuxedo black Corvette, which
was the oldest to fall.

3. The others were too damaged. But their remains will continued to be displayed -- eventually back in
the Skydome, where an exhibit will be dedicated to the sinkhole, the museum said.
General Motors will provide nearly $250,000 to help recovery efforts, the museum said.
The damage got the attention of gearheads worldwide. Reports estimated the total value of the cars
at more than $1 million.
Experts call the Corvette the most collected car in America, and General Motors calls it the "world's
longest-running, continuously produced passenger car." Since the 'Vette's 1953 debut, more than
1.5 million have rolled off Chevrolet assembly lines. The sleek silhouette has transformed into a pop
culture icon across TV, films and advertising.
Watch: How the museum has been showcasing the sinkhole
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/30/travel/corvette-museum-sinkhole/