The National Corvette Museum Skydome sinkhole on February 12, 2014. Images courtesy National Corvette Museum.
The sinkhole that opened beneath the National Corvette Museum’s Skydome on February 12, 2014, created an unintended tourist attraction that drew in a record 251,258 visitors during calendar year 2014. Eighteen months later, both the hole and the Skydome have been repaired, and are set for a grand re-opening on September 3, as part of the museum’s 21st Anniversary Celebration.
The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 8:45 a.m. Central time, and will be followed by the unveiling of the now-restored millionth Corvette, a white 1993 convertible damaged in the sinkhole collapse. On hand to discuss the restoration process, and the restoration of the 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil prototype, will be John Cafaro, executive director of Chevrolet Global Design, and Dave Bolognino, director of fabrication operations for GM Global Design.
The Skydome in February 2015, with repairs well underway.
The sinkhole may be repaired, but it’s certainly not forgotten. Other planned seminars include “What’s under the Skydome,” with Dr. Jason Polk from the Center for Cave and Karst Studies; and “Skydome and Sinkhole Repair,” with Zach Massey from Scott, Murphy & Daniel Construction. Those lacking the patience to sit through a lecture on geology or construction techniques can still view the cave via a glass viewing window in a floor access hatch, and a marked outline on the Skydome floor denotes the arear of the sinkhole collapse.
The 21st Anniversary Celebration includes events beyond the Skydome as well. There are lectures on maintaining Corvettes and properly insuring them, a display of racing models, a silent auction, driving tours and scavenger hunts, a high-performance driving event at the Motorsport Park, and the Corvette Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which will honor 2015 inductees Rick Hendrick, Herb Fishel, and Russ McLean.
A still image taken from the Skydome live camera, August 2015.
Though not ready in time for the anniversary bash, the museum will open “Corvette Cave In: The Skydome Sinkhole Experience” sometime this fall. The new attraction will document the collapse and subsequent restoration of the cars and facility, while educating visitors on sinkholes, caves and karst landscape that exists underneath the Bowling Green, Kentucky area.
For more information on the 21st Anniversary Celebration, visit CorvetteMuseum.org.
More gadget review in www.mamaktalk.com
