>> I grew up in Chicago.
I remember I could not see the
sky real well from the city
because of all the lights.
Trips to Wisconsin is where I
was able to start seeing the
skies and enjoy it.
>> It was around the age
of 12.
My dad had a telescope that he
showed me the moon through.
That's where my interest piqued,
When I started learning about
astronomy.
From about the age of 12 I would
find any book I could from there
on and read about astronomy or
space.
I was able to find a job in
Rhinelander at a paper company.
I would like sharing my view
of the sky with scout groups or
just families.
After I had a scout group
presentation at a local town
hall, we were going to come out
and look at the stars through
the telescope and it clouded
over.
I though, that's it.
I'm going to do something
about this.
I'm going to build
a planetarium.
You tell that to people,
they think you're crazy.
I started drawing pictures on
scratch paper.
There were no blueprints, there
was no book telling me what to
do here.
I had an idea of a star map.
I did it over ten to 12 years
with whatever I had left over
from my local paper mill job.
I used that money to buy
material.
And by doing it over time,
I could afford it.
The first thing I had to
do was I had to have a shelter.
I had to have a place out of the
weather.
The globe is built chiefly out
of plywood, 3/4" and 1/2"
thick plywood.
Eventually, I had the shape of
a globe.
When I laid out the stars I
used maps that I had from books
to look up at night outside.
I was able to put the stars in
there with the best
glow-in-the-dark paint I could
find.
I had many times where I wanted
to quit, because I had times
where something would not work.
[gears clicking]
I opened the planetarium in the
year 2007, the month of June.
The planetarium is powered by a
half-horsepower gear motor.
The planetarium has to rotate in
order to show the different
seasonal stars.
If the planetarium did not
rotate, the only thing people
would see would be the stars
that are currently visible,
which might be the springtime
sky.
Welcome to the Kovac
Planetarium.
I have approximately 3000 people
per year coming through here.
When people arrive I explain to
them what this thing is.
I do about an hour program
inside the planetarium.
I explain where the planets are.
They learn about how big the
planets, stars and moon and sun
are compared to earth.
And of course where we live in
the galaxy.
So the show consists of basics
of astronomy, and that is what
people enjoy.
I sometimes can't believe this
thing works.
I am totally amazed at not just
the globe itself, but the beauty
of the stars inside.
it looks so realistic.
It's unbelievable.
I tell many people, it's nothing
short of a miracle that this
thing is here.
The planetarium is dedicated in
my dad's memory for his sharing
the sky with me.
Many people sometimes will ask
me, "Wow," you know, "you never
quit on this.
You must have wanted it
to happen."
I said, "I wanted it for you,
for others to learn about the
stars."