Corvette sinkhole to be filled!
Remember that gaping maw that claimed eight 'Vettes? The repair job starts nowHugh Radojev 02 September 2014
Yes, it's true. Nearly seven months after a giant sinkhole swallowed eight cars at the National Corvette Museum in the United States, a plan to fill the hole in and fix the damaged cars has been finalised.
In the first months following the collapse, museum directors had originally intended to keep a part of the sinkhole open and unfilled for posterity, after the realisation that more people were coming to look at a massive hole than some old Corvettes. But it wasn't to be.
‘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 cost outweighs the benefit', said museum director Wendell Strode.
Even a tiny portion of the hole open would have required the construction of a vast array of safety precautions, make it cheaper to fill in the hole than keep even a sliver of it open. One million dollars cheaper, in fact.
Happily, of the eight cars that were swallowed on that fateful February, three will be restored. A 2009 ZR1 prototype, known as the Blue Devil, and the one millionth Corvette ever produced, a white 1992 convertible, will be restored at the museum. A 1962 Corvette will be restored off site.
With $250,000 financial backing from General Motors, Corvette had originally intended to restore all eight of the damaged cars itself. However an ‘outpouring' of requests from visitors and fans has seen five of the cars kept in their damaged condition to record the significance of the event. They will be incorporated into a future exhibition that will commemorate the sinkhole.
And so one of the most unusual sagas in motoring this year almost reaches its finale. Anyone out there been to visit the Corvette hole?
Picture: National Corvette Museumwww.topgear.com/uk/car-news/corvette-museum-sinkhole-filled-2014-09-01
Sinkhole that proved popular at Corvette Museum will be filled
A view of a sinkhole that opened up in the Skydome showroom on Feb. 12, 2014, at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. Eight display cars were swallowed by the hole.(Reuters) - A sinkhole that swallowed eight cars inside the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky will be filled even though it has become a tourist attraction that sharply increased attendance and revenue, the museum’s board decided on Saturday.
The board had voted in June to attempt to keep part of the hole open, but the cost of retaining walls and other construction would exceed $1 million, officials at the museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, said in a statement.
“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," museum executive director Wendell Strode said in the statement. “But after receiving more detailed pricing, the cost outweighs the benefit.”
The sinkhole, 40 feet (12 meters) wide and 60 feet (18 meters) deep, opened in February because of underground caves, geologists said. The hole, which absorbed part of the museum building, drew curiosity seekers. Attendance over the next four months rose 59 percent from the same period in 2013, officials said.
The eight cars that dropped into the hole ranged in model years from 1962 to 2009. Three will be restored - the 2009 Corvette ZR1 prototype know as the Blue Devil, a 1962 Corvette and a 1992 convertible that was the millionth Corvette produced.
The other five Corvettes were too damaged to be repaired but will remain at the museum to show the effects of the sinkhole, Strode said.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and David Gregorio)
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