National Corvette Museum expands with new collections building

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A major new facility is taking shape at the National Corvette Museum that will soon house hundreds of historic sports cars and artifacts tied to one of America’s most recognizable vehicles.

Construction is underway on a new 66,000-square-foot collections facility designed to bring the museum’s growing inventory of Corvettes and related artifacts under one roof while giving visitors a closer look at how those vehicles are preserved.

Museum leaders say the project has been years in the making and will play a key role in protecting the collection for future generations.

Robert Maxhimer, director of curatorial affairs and education at the museum, said the new building will house the institution’s entire vehicle collection along with thousands of additional historical objects.

“This building is going to house our entire collection of cars and objects, have a full state-of-the-art preservation garage for our team to work on the cars and protect them, and we’ll also be able to offer tours to the public,” Maxhimer said.

Currently, many of the museum’s vehicles are stored in different locations around Bowling Green. The new facility will centralize those vehicles while also creating space for preservation work and educational opportunities.

At full capacity, the building will be able to hold more than 230 Corvettes. When the facility first opens, museum officials expect around 120 vehicles to be displayed there, with others rotating between the new building and exhibits inside the main museum galleries.

Along with the vehicles themselves, the museum maintains a vast collection of Corvette-related artifacts and historical items that will also be stored and organized in the new space.

Construction crews say the project is progressing steadily.

Logan Kauffman, a superintendent with Scott Murphy and Daniel, said the structure is quickly coming together.

“Our building is coming up good. We have siding on almost three sides, and we plan on doing our first slab pour this week. Progress is really starting to ramp up out here,” Kauffman said.

The site has also undergone careful evaluation in light of the museum’s well-known 2014 sinkhole that swallowed several historic Corvettes inside the museum.

Kauffman said crews have not encountered any similar issues at the new site and that the foundation has been thoroughly checked.

“I can confidently say the pad is very sturdy. We haven’t found any sinkholes that would affect the pad’s integrity,” he said.

If construction continues on schedule, museum officials say they hope to begin moving vehicles into the new facility in early 2027. Once operational, the building will eventually open for public tours, giving visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how the museum preserves and cares for one of the largest Corvette collections in the world.

More information about the project can be found at the museum’s website.