Eight Cars Fall Into Corvette Museum Sinkhole In Bowling Green, KY

Image: Corvette Museum

Updated: 2/13/14 at 9:15am: Helicopter Video
The National Corvette released this video Wednesday afternoon, taken by a camera-equipped remote controlled helicopter:

Original Post: 2/12/14:
Shortly before 6am this morning, a sinkhole collapsed inside the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. According to a museum press release, eight cars, some of them historic, fell into the hole that the Bowling Green Fire Department estimates to be about 40 feet across and at least 25 feet deep.

No one was in the museum at the time. Management was alerted by the museum’s security company when the collapse set off motion detectors.

‘Karst’ Country

The Corvette Museum is a a prominent landmark to travelers on I-65 about an hour north of Nashville. This region of Kentucky is famous for caves, with Mammoth Cave National Park only 25 miles away. According to this PDF from the Kentucky Geological Society, sinkholes are also common:

Kentucky is one of the most famous karst areas in the world. What is karst? It’s a landscape with sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, and springs.

The collapse took place inside the Skydome exhibit, a separate structure connected to the main museum building. Obviously, the museum is closed to the public while damages and safety concerns are being assessed. A structural engineer is on-site today, evaluating the stability of the surrounding area.

Image: Corvette Museum

Here are videos from ABC affiliate WBKO: