National Corvette Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
National Corvette Museum

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:

See also

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