Corvette Museum Offers 360-Degree Interactive Cave Tour on 5th Anniversary of Sinkhole

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Corvette Museum Offers 360-Degree Interactive Cave Tour on 5th Anniversary of Sinkhole

Photo Credit: National Corvette Museum


Today marks the fifth anniversary of the “Sinkhole That Ate Eight Corvettes.”

But you don’t necessarily have to be in Bowling Green, Ky., to get in on the action at the National Corvette Museum on this historic day.

Just by visiting the Museum’s website at www.corvettemuseum.org, you can take a 360-degree interactive tour of the south side of the cave, exploring nearly every inch of the hole thanks to the efforts of LifeLike Imageworks.

Click on the Explore-Exhibits menu, then select the Corvette Cave-In link to watch.

The sinkhole, of course, made international headlines when eight classic Corvettes were swallowed up during the night of Feb. 12, 2014. While it could have spelled the end of the NCM, it actually has proven to be a boon for the Museum, which experienced a 67 percent jump in visitation in the months after the cars fell more than 30 feet into the sinkhole.

Corvette Museum Offers 360-Degree Interactive Cave Tour on 5th Anniversary of Sinkhole

Ever since that devastating night, the Museum has marked the anniversary each year with special events – opening a special “Corvette Cave-In” exhibit in 2016, kicking off the restoration of the 1962 black Corvette in 2017, and revealing the good-as-new ’62 in 2018.

While some at first wanted the Museum to leave the sinkhole intact, it wasn’t feasible to do that, according to Katie Ellison, Marketing and Communications Manager at the NCM.

Instead, most of the sinkhole was filled and a viewing window over a 48-inch manhole was installed. Also, an outline on the Skydome floor shows the location of the sinkhole.

“All eight of the Corvettes are on display in approximately the same spots they were prior to the sinkhole, with five of them looking exactly like they did after being pulled from the depths of the hole,” Ellison says. “We also offer an interactive exhibition, allowing guests to learn about what happened, the cars affected, caves and karst landscapes, how the building was repaired including a time-lapse video, and even a live webcam in the cave. A lot of people are curious about what it looks like inside the cave, beyond what the webcam shows, so we decided to add a 360-tour allowing them to take a look.”

The sinkhole continues to captivate visitors to the Museum along with “anyone who stumbles upon our security footage of the collapse online,” Ellison says, noting that it’s not only part of the NCM history but also Corvette history.

“We welcome visitors to come check our immersive displays out and learn that story firsthand,” Ellison says.

Update:
The NCM posted this video today to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Sinkhole:


Source:
National Corvette Museum

Related:
The Corvette Museum is Preparing to Celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the Sinkhole
WBKO Reporter Goes Spelunking in the Corvette Museum’s Sinkhole
[VIDEO] Corvette Museum Officially Opens Corvette Cave-In Sinkhole Exhibit

 



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