Tom Every, a demolition expert who died in 2020, turned a pile of salvaged machinery into the Forevertron— a 300‑ton sculpture that towers 50 feet high and stretches 120 feet across, positioned on Highway 12 in Sumpter, Wisconsin. The piece incorporates two Edison dynamos from the 1880s, lightning rods, high‑voltage equipment salvaged from 1920s power plants, and metal recovered from the nearby Badger Army Ammunition Plant, including a decontamination chamber once used on Apollo 11.
Every began assembling these relics into elaborate structures in the 1980s, crafting an alternate Victorian universe around his alter ego, Dr. Evermor, a fictional inventor who supposedly built a spacecraft capable of launching into space. The park’s centerpiece, the Forevertron, is built in modular sections bolted together, allowing it to be dismantled and relocated if necessary.
Beyond the Forevertron, the park hosts a collection of metal creatures: the Bird Band Orchestra—70 bird‑like sculptures arranged like an ensemble—satellite dishes, telescopes, insect‑shaped machines, and other fantastical forms. Weathered surfaces and mismatched industrial components give the entire collection a distinctly otherworldly character.
Tourists traveling between Wisconsin Dells and the western reaches of the state often detour to the park, citing it as a reminder that creativity can arise from discarded machinery. Locals describe the park as an unexpected detour that turns a rural stretch of Highway 12 into a living museum of industrial imagination.
The park remains open to visitors year‑round, serving as a notable stop for travelers along Highway 12 and a testament to the artistic potential of industrial waste.