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National Corvette Museum facts for kids

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National Corvette Museum
National Corvette Museum logo.svg
National Corvette Museum, KY.JPG
Established September 1994; 30 years ago (1994-09)
Location 350 Corvette Drive
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Type Automobile

The National Corvette Museum is a super cool place that shows off the Chevrolet Corvette. This famous American sports car has been made since 1953. You can find the museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It's right near the factory where Corvettes are built!

The museum opened its doors in September 1994. Its main goal is to teach everyone about the history of the Corvette. They collect, protect, and celebrate this amazing car's story. The museum has exciting exhibits and fun activities. You can even take tours to see how Corvettes are made. It's a great spot for car fans of all ages!

The Big Sinkhole Event

On February 12, 2014, something wild happened at the museum. A giant hole, called a sinkhole, suddenly opened up under the floor. This happened in the Skydome area around 5:44 AM.

Kentucky is known for having "karst topography." This is a fancy way to say the ground has limestone rocks. Over time, water can slowly dissolve these rocks. This creates empty spaces or "pockets" underground. Eventually, the ground above these pockets can collapse. That's exactly what happened at the museum. The weight of the building caused the top layer of soil to fall in.

Eight rare and very special Corvettes fell into the sinkhole. Parts of the display stands and concrete floor also dropped down. Some of the cars were badly damaged. These eight Corvettes were worth about a million dollars! The museum quickly moved the other 20 cars from the Skydome to safety.

Between March 3 and March 6, 2014, five of the eight cars were carefully pulled out. Before trying to get the last three, workers made sure the building was safe. They did special tests to check for other hidden sinkholes. The tests showed the area was clear. For extra safety, they put steel rods into the ground. This helped support the building before new concrete was poured.

Amazingly, the museum reopened the very next day after the sinkhole appeared. Two years later, the museum opened a new exhibit. It tells the whole story of the sinkhole. Visitors can even try to "virtually" recover the cars!

Corvette Hall of Fame

The museum also has a special Corvette Hall of Fame. This honors people who have done amazing things for the Corvette car. Each year, a few people are chosen to join this special group.

Members are put into three main groups:

  • Enthusiasts: People who love Corvettes and help share their story.
  • GM/Chevrolet: People who worked for General Motors or Chevrolet and helped design or build Corvettes.
  • Racing: Drivers or others who helped Corvettes succeed in races.

Here are some of the people who have been honored:

Honorees
Year Names Category
1998 Bill Mitchell GM/Chevrolet
Harley Earl GM/Chevrolet
Larry Shinoda GM/Chevrolet
Joe Pike GM/Chevrolet
Ed Cole GM/Chevrolet
Zora Arkus-Duntov GM/Chevrolet
1999 Jim Perkins GM/Chevrolet
Dave McLellan GM/Chevrolet
Dick Guldstrand Racing
2000 John Fitch Racing
Dick Thompson Racing
Jerry Palmer GM/Chevrolet
2001 Gibson Hufstader GM/Chevrolet
Joseph Spielman GM/Chevrolet
Betty Skelton Racing
2002 John Cafaro GM/Chevrolet
Jim Jeffords Racing
Myron Scott GM/Chevrolet
2003 Noland Adams Enthusiast
Robert Morrison Enthusiast
2004 Ray Battaglini Enthusiast
Darrel Bowlin Enthusiast
Jon Brookmyer Enthusiast
Dan Gale Enthusiast
Terry McManmon Enthusiast
2005 Chip Miller Enthusiast
Randy Wittine GM/Chevrolet
Don Yenko Racing
2006 Dave Hill GM/Chevrolet
John Lingenfelter Racing
Gary Mortimer Enthusiast
2007 Doug Hooper Racing
Gordon Killebrew Enthusiast
Carl Renner GM/Chevrolet
2008 Allan and Don Barker Racing
Reeves Callaway Enthusiast
Maurice Olley GM/Chevrolet
2009 Duane Bohnstedt GM/Chevrolet
Tony De Lorenzo and Jer Thompson Racing
John Hinckley Enthusiast
2010 Grady Davis Racing
Fred Gallasch Enthusiast
Jim Ingle GM/Chevrolet
2011 Clare "Mac" MacKichan GM/Chevrolet
Ray Quinlan Enthusiast
Ron Fellows Racing
2012 Andy Pilgrim Racing
Gary Claudio GM/Chevrolet
Patrick Dolan Enthusiast
Bob McDorman Enthusiast
2013 Johnny O'Connell Racing
Wil Cooksey GM/Chevrolet
Werner Meier Enthusiast
2014 Dave MacDonald Racing
John Heinricy GM/Chevrolet
Jerry Burton Enthusiast
2015 Herb Fishel Racing
Russ McLean GM/Chevrolet
Rick Hendrick Enthusiast
2016 Bob Bondurant Racing
Ralph Kramer GM/Chevrolet
Donna Mae Mims Enthusiast
2017 Tommy Morrison Racing
Jim Minneker GM/Chevrolet
Peter Brock Enthusiast
2018 Burt and John Greenwood Racing
Tom Wallace GM/Chevrolet
Mike Yager Enthusiast
2019 Briggs Cunningham Racing
Tom Peters GM/Chevrolet
Dollie Cole Enthusiast
2020 Doug Fehan Racing
Henry Haga GM/Chevrolet
Wendell Strode Enthusiast
Mike McCagh Enthusiast
2022 Gary Pratt and Jim Miller Racing
Ed Welburn GM/Chevrolet
Elfi Arkus-Duntov Enthusiast

See also

  • List of sinkholes in the United States
  • Sinkholes from the 21st century
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