The National Corvette Museum will mark the completion of its new 66,000 sq ft Collections Facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 3, 2026.
Built on the museum’s campus in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the facility will provide additional space for storing and conserving historically significant Corvettes, documents and smaller artefacts. It will also allow the museum to accept further material as its collection continues to grow. Although the ceremony will mark the building’s completion, it will not open to ordinary visitors immediately. Preparations will continue through the remainder of 2026, with public access and guided behind-the-scenes tours scheduled to begin in early 2027.
The facility represents a substantial expansion for a museum that began as an enthusiast-led project. Corvette was introduced in 1953, but it was not until the late 1980s that members of the National Corvette Restorers Society began discussing the creation of a permanent home for the model’s history.
The National Corvette Museum opened on September 2, 1994, close to General Motors’ Bowling Green Assembly Plant. Every Corvette produced since 1981 has been built at the plant, placing the museum beside the continuing manufacturing story it was created to document.
Its most recognisable architectural feature is the yellow conical Skydome, originally used for the ‘Corvette Salon’ exhibition. The building became known far beyond Corvette circles on February 12, 2014, when a sinkhole opened beneath the Skydome and swallowed eight cars. The damaged Corvettes included the one-millionth example, a white 1992 convertible, and the 1.5-millionth Corvette, built in 2009. Recovery work and the subsequent conservation of the cars became part of the museum’s interpretation, providing a public demonstration of the decisions involved in preserving damaged historic vehicles.
That work is reflected in the museum’s current Driven to Preserve exhibition. Running until January 2027, it uses more than a dozen rarely displayed Corvettes and supporting objects to explain how vehicles are moved, catalogued, assessed and conserved. The exhibition also introduces the thinking behind the new facility; dedicated areas in the building will accommodate long-term vehicle storage, small-object conservation and preservation work.
The museum says the additional capacity will enable it to document Corvette design, engineering, competition history and culture more comprehensively, rather than concentrating only on complete display cars.
The ribbon-cutting will form part of the museum’s 32nd Anniversary Celebration, which takes place from September 3–5. The weekend will also include discussions about the LS6 engine and Corvette Grand Sport, regional driving tours and the induction of John Middlebrook, Kirk Bennion, Harlan Charles and James Schefter into the Corvette Hall of Fame. Trolleys will carry registered visitors from the existing museum to the new building for the ceremony at 2:30pm. Full guided access will follow once the collection has been transferred and the facility prepared for visitors in early 2027.
More information on the National Corvette Museum can be found here.
