Before and After: National Corvette Museum

On Feb. 12, 2014, the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky., experienced the unthinkable. A sinkhole measuring 40 feet across and 60 feet deep developed inside the museum swallowing eight Corvettes.

The before photo shows two cars on display prior to the sinkhole, a 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette and a 1962 Black Corvette.

The operation to recover the vehicles was dubbed “Operation Corvette Plus,” and the National Corvette Museum worked in conjunction with Chubb Insurance and VanMeter Insurance Group in the recovery project.

In March, the two cars were recovered albeit with some difficulty. The car lift had become entwined with the 1962 Corvette, so the recovery team had to remove the hood and tie a strap to the engine bay. In addition, a slab of concrete that was wedged into the grill had anchors drilled into it.

The museum expects the repair and remediation of the sinkhole to be completed by its 20th anniversary celebration in August .