[1]Sinkholes have been in the news as of late, with major incidents in Florida and Louisiana garnering national attention. However, this morning’s sinkhole incident at the National Corvette Museum [2] is sure to dominate headlines for at least a few days, as at least eight Corvettes, including six of those owned by NCM itself, have been affected.
The sinkhole occurred in none other than the National Corvette Museum’s “Skydome”, home to the Hall of Fame and dozens of valuable, irreplaceable Corvettes. At least eight of these cars have been swallowed by this massive sinkhole.
[3]Among the affected cars is a 2009 Corvette ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors, as well as a 1992 Corvette ZR1 Spyder, also on loan from the General. The other six affected cars were owned by NCM, meaning no private Corvette owners were directly harmed by the incident.
NCM has said that the other Corvettes “affected” by the sinkhole include a ‘62 black Corvette, the 1984 PPG Corvette pace car, the 1992 1 Millionth Corvette and 2009 1.5 Millionth Corvette. Also affected were the 2001 Mallet Hammer and 1994 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette.
While it’s hard to judge the damage from these pictures posted by the NCM Facebook page , it’s clear that the sinkhole is deep, dangerous, and has swallowed several of the cars whole. Whether or not they’re recoverable remains to be seen, though a structural engineer is said to already be on site. NCM has only managed to remove one car from the Skydome since the incident, a 1983 Corvette, the only one of its kind. 25 other cars remain inside, for now at least.
The Skydome has been closed for obvious reasons, though the rest of the National Corvette Museum remains open.