A Sinkhole Is Never A Good Sign, Unless You Are This Museum!
Sinkholes are big, ugly and very dangerous. They swallow whatever is on top and usually are a sign for further damage and destruction. However, a sinkhole that occurred right in the middle of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky has proved to be quite beneficial instead.
In February this year, a large sinkhole measuring 40 feet wide and 20-30 feet deep opened up under the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The aftermath was nothing short of devastating to the museum as well as Corvette fans. The sinkhole swallowed eight vehicles, including two exquisite Corvette ZR1s.
Needless to say these 8 vehicles, some of them brought in as a loan from General Motors, are quite rare and expensive. Hence when the earth opened, stunned museum officials saw it as a devastating setback. The eight damaged cars- carrying a total value believed to exceed $1 million – toppled like toys amid rocks, concrete and dirt. Later, upon investigation, it was learnt that though few suffered major cosmetic damage, most were intact and had to be carefully recovered, reported Autoweek.
But, the sinkhole has apparently proved beneficial for the museum, which rarely sees throngs of people wanting to see a few cars. Visitors are apparently as eager to peer into the chasm as they are to see the ‘Vettes, if not more so, exclaimed Katie Frassinelli, a spokeswoman for the museum that sits just off Interstate 65 in Bowling Green,
“The response to this has been bigger than anyone could have ever imagined. On the one hand, we don’t want to be known as the sinkhole museum. But on the other hand, it’s bringing a lot of people that may not have otherwise come.”
After the initial shock, museum officials realized business has shifted into overdrive. The sinkhole had appeared exactly below the sky-dome of the building. Instead of closing the entire museum until the assessment of the damage and restoration was completed, the museum decided to gamble and reopened the museum after just one day and that gamble has clearly paid-off, reported Fox News.
Since reopening after the one-day closure, attendance is up nearly 50 percent from the same period a year ago. The museum had just a meager footfall of just 150,000 per year, but now, apart from the swelling visitor count, the gift and souvenir shops are doing brisk business too. The merchandising has started well, albeit with sinkhole-related shirts, post cards and prints sold at the gift shop instead of the ones featuring the cars. This incident proves that sometimes, a calamity can be fortunate.
[Image Credit | AutoWeek ]
