Tom Every spent decades turning salvaged machinery into Wisconsin’s 300-ton Forevertron; the 50-foot scrap-metal giant still stands at his family’s art park
Tom Every, a former demolition contractor from Wisconsin, reinvented himself in the 1980s as the eccentric Dr. Evermor. Retiring from a career that dismantled factories and power plants, he began hoarding the very parts most crews would consign to the scrapyard, turning them into a personal mythology of salvage and wonder.
The centerpiece of his private sculpture park is the Forevertron, a 50‑foot, 300‑ton spaceship assembled from a 6,000‑pound transformer, a massive industrial compressor and countless other relics of the state’s manufacturing past. Though never intended for launch, the rust‑kissed vessel towers above a grove of cottonwoods, its copper 'egg' glowing like a beacon for the imagination.
Surrounding the rocket are whimsical metal birds—some with ostrich‑like necks, others bearing guitars, trumpets or chime‑like feathers—that seem to keep watch. Small teahouse structures dot the landscape, offering workspaces where visiting makers can tinker alongside the ever‑present spirit of reuse.
Beyond the visual spectacle, Every’s project is a statement about waste and renewal. By rescuing discarded machinery and giving it narrative weight, he invites visitors to see the poetry in objects left behind. Though he passed away in 2020, the park remains a living laboratory of imagination, reminding us that nothing is truly finished until someone finds a new purpose for it.