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Corvette Museum Commemorates 2014 Sinkhole With New Exhibit

Two years after many of their prized cars plummeted into a sinkhole, the National Corvette Museum has opened up an exhibit commemorating the event.The
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Two years after eight of their prized cars plummeted into a sinkhole, the National Corvette Museum has opened an exhibit commemorating the incredible event.

The 20-foot-deep sinkhole tore through the Bowling Green, Kentucky, museum on Feb. 11, 2014, swallowing some of the country's most admired sports cars, including a vintage 1962 black Corvette. No one was inside the museum at the time, and there were no injuries.

Related: Massive Sinkhole Swallows Vintage Corvettes

Dramatic surveillance footage captured the cars tumbling into the abyss. It became a headline-making, viral sensation. The museum says the video has been viewed more than 8.6 million times.

The Corvettes have been recovered — two have been restored — but museum employees said Friday the lore of the sinkhole has continued to draw record numbers of visitors.

Image: Workers use a crane to extract the 1993 40th Anniversary Chevrolet Corvette from the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky
Workers use a crane to extract the 1993 40th Anniversary Chevrolet Corvette from the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. on March 3. The 40th Anniversary Corvette, along with seven other Corvettes, fell into the sinkhole on February 12.Steve Fecht/Chevrolet via Reuters file

So on Friday, as oversized scissors snipped yellow "Caution" tape, the museum officially unveiled "Corvette Cave-In: The Skydome Sinkhole Exhibit."

Image: CORVETTE CAVE IN EXHIBIT
The Corvette "Cave-In" exhibit opened on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016.Courtesy of National Corvette Museum

In addition to chronicling the story of the sinkhole, the exhibit provides geology lessons about how sinkholes form, museum employees said.

Image: A view of a sinkhole that opened up in the Skydome showroom on Feb. 12, at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky.
A view of a sinkhole that opened up in the Skydome showroom on Feb. 12, at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky.Michael Noble Jr / AP, file

The National Corvette Museum's board of directors decided that they would keep a portion of sinkhole, which happened underneath the museum's "Skydome" annex, in June 2014. At the time, the CFO, Christy Thomas, said visits were up 59 percent, and revenue up 65 percent.