Ever get a dent in your car and decide for sentimental reasons decide to keep it?
No? Well, that’s what the members of the Board of Directors of the National Corvette Museum voted to do on Wednesday in regards to a giant sinkhole that nearly destroyed the place and swallowed eight cars in February.
The board was presented with three options for the future of the “Skydome” building in Bowling Green, Kentucky: 1) Fill the sinkhole and replace the floor so that the building is much like it was previously; 2) Keep the entire sinkhole as is; 3) Keep a smaller portion of the hole open.
Option three won out, so a portion of the sinkhole will remain open, “pending review of further information,” the group said in a statement.
Of course, it's not just sentimentality: Since the headline-making incident, museum visitations have been up 59 percent, and revenue is up 65 percent, according to Christy Thomas, CFO for the museum.
"If the interest in the exhibit wanes, or if down the road we decided that we don't want the hole any longer there is always an option to put the room back how it was," said Thomas.
The cars affected at the time were:
- 1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
- 2009 ZR1 "Blue Devil" on loan from General Motors
- 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
In-depth
- Workers Salvage Classic Corvettes from Kentucky Sinkhole
- Chevrolet to Restore Sinkhole-Damaged Corvettes (MotorTrend)
