Holy Crap: Bowling Green Corvette Museum sinkhole!

[sweetolbob]

Hmm, Carl Spackler and gophers come to mind.

Can't resist, My daughters favorite movie animal.

If you like the explosions, they are all over Youtube

Bob

[jclary]

Hmmmmm...
What if there were some crazed Corvette guys tunneling in to steal them?

Well...Jeff, that's one scenario. But a little old-fashioned. In light of today's proliferation of "reality shows"...and how desperate they are to provide some interesting drama...I thought about one of those doomsday preppers...busily sweating away with a pick-axe building the "ultimate bunker!"

Seriously...those Vette fans are as passionate about their rides as the rest of us. I haven't read all the information available before posting...but hope that there is sufficient insurance and resources to recover. Also, some very intense geological evaluation is hopefully being conducted before proceeding with this site.

Once everything is sorted out...I wonder if all the documented details of this incident will add monetary value to the historical significance of the cars involved?

[BobPalma]

'Saw some more footage on TV. I can't imagine any of the cars not being repairable; they don't appear to have fallen on each other or anything too violent.

'Sure messed 'em up, though; one was upside down. BP

[Chris Pile]

There are other videos on YouTube now.... one is from a drone camera flying into the hole. It's much bigger than it looks, and I'd say it will eventually go even deeper.

Here's a thought.... the Corvette plant is just across the street, isn't it? Will we see sinkholes opening up in the floor of a Chevy-owned plant?

[fastfritz]

here is from a drone helicopter.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hypidVK9Ge8&list=PL5Syfif2eF-PwKw8EkYQ3hW12km1LzacC&index=6

[Warren Webb]

I guess there's not much "Bloomington Gold" in that bunch anymore! I'm surprised they hadn't moved the other cars out of there PRONTO to get all the weight off the floor as much as possible. I guess the next step will be to open a hole in the dome & get a helo to lift them out one by one.

Note to self: call Mary Barra & have the factory floor all checked for "cracks".

[8E45E]

Note to self: call Mary Barra & have the factory floor all checked for "cracks".

I wonder if it was staged to show where our tax dollars to bailout GM are going....

Craig

[BobPalma]

As I watched the drones, I couldn't help but think of how stupid it would be to be inside that building right now.

I mean, what guarantee is there that any part of one of those walls wouldn't start to go...and take the whole thing down with it? So they have hard hats on; what difference would it make? BP

[Silverplate]

I wonder if it was staged to show where our tax dollars to bailout GM are going....

Craig

The Corvette Museum gets zero dollars from GM.

[JBOYLE]

They do own some of the damaged cars though.

[t walgamuth]

As I watched the drones, I couldn't help but think of howstupid it would be to be inside that building right now.

I mean, what guarantee is there that any part of one of those walls wouldn't start to go...and take the whole thing down with it? So they have hard hats on; what difference would it make? BP

Exactly. That is a huge hole under the building. I don't know what is holding it up.....move the other cars? I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that hole!

[Bob Bryant]

The Bowling Green Daily News provides the local opinion and museum plans on salvage and rebuilding. Informative article.

http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/local-contractor-will-help-remove-reported-million-in-corvettes-from/article_773f14c0-d55e-5925-9361-29635b40349f.html

[sochocki]

In regards to sinkholes in the South Bend area, check this story out:

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/traffic-alert-sinkhole-on-lincolnway-east-in-south-bend/24437566

On the TV news, it looked about the size of a manhole cover. As they mentioned, it was caused by a water main break. As a lifelong resident of this area, I do not recall ever seeing a report of a very large sinkhole in South Bend like we have seen in other parts of the U.S. and around the world. I don't remember what caused these sinkholes . . . many different reasons I guess. Let's hope the terra firma underneath the SNM is solid!!

[Bob Bryant]

Some areas of the US have the threat and others appear to be free of the sinkhole problem. Florida has several areas that have experienced a gradual breakdown of the reef structure underneath. A friend in Spring Hill finally settled with the insurance company and a supporting system was installed under the house because of settling/sinking. The pool area which is attached with a concrete deck received no treatment I don't know how the match-up between house and pool are now. She knows that she will take a big hit when she puts her home on the market because of its history.

[BobPalma]

'Can't help but wonder about that black 1962 Corvette.

Another article about this event said the black '62 had been donated to the museum by its original owner, a Don ??? from Zionsville IN. Zionsville is a northwest suburb of Indianapolis.

Back in the day (mid-to-late late 1960s) when I worked at Carl West Shell Service in north suburban Indianapolis, we had a fussy gentleman customer who drove a black 1962 Corvette. He was particular about who serviced it and always wanted to stay and watch, to be sure it was being done as he saw fit. Carl West always assigned me to give it a lube-oil-filter, since he knew the customer would be watching and that I would take care of it as to wiping grease fittings before and after greasing, etc. I would also chat with the gent as I worked on his car; he was a nice guy and his car was unusual; there weren't that many "Gen 1" Corvettes on the road back then, unlike today.

I serviced that black '62 Corvette several times and distinctly remember it because it had blackwall tires at the time when virtually everything else on the road, especially cars like that Corvette in our well-to-do market, had whitewall tires.

I sure can't remember the gentleman's name that owned it (hey, that was almost 50 years ago, OK, and it wasn't a Studebaker, for Pete's sake), but I distinctly remember his Corvette, and it was identical to the one that fell in the sinkhole.

Since the one that fell in the sinkhole came from the original owner in north suburban Indianapolis and the one I serviced was owned by a gentleman in north suburban Indianapolis and how many black 1962 Corvettes do you suppose were in north suburban Indianapolis at the time....????

Could it be? BP


Update: Well, phooey. I thought I would do some research and try to find the guy that donated the black 1962 Corvette. I searched various reports of this event, trying to again locate the man's name. It was Don [something], last name also began with a "D", like Donovan. But in the course of looking for it, I found another report that said the 1962 Corvette's original owner in Indiana had died after donating the car.

That's too bad, because I was going to try to find him in Zionsville and call him to see if he had the car serviced at Carl West Shell in the 1960s. (Zionsville is so close to Brownsburg that it is a local call and the same area code.)

It's also not too surprising, since I remember the gentleman who owned the Corvette to be at least 45-50 years old when I serviced it in the late 1960s. That could make him on the order of 100 years old if he was still alive. Oh, well....I'll just have to wonder, but I'd say the odds are in my favor that I serviced the car in the mid to late 1960s.

(Hmmm....now if the National Corvette Museum would just verify some door jamb lube stickers from Carl West Shell Service....but I imagine they have more pressing issues to deal with right now!)