Most people have been to a zoo at one time in their life and are awed by the diversity of wildlife there from the four corners of the earth. Many, however, don’t realize Fort Collins is home to one of the most unique zoos found anywhere. Although you won’t see any live animals at this location, you can still find ancient dinosaurs, space ships and unusual people, all frozen in time.

Such is the Swetsville Zoo, so named for its creator, Bill Swets. Located just east of I-25 on Harmony Road, many have driven by without realizing the secrets that are hidden just off the highway. Here you can find acres of sculptures, lovingly welded together over the years by a man who is a self-described “big kid.”

It all started one August night in 1985 while Swets was still working for the Timnath Fire Department. Finding it hard to unwind after a night of dealing with traffic accidents, he started to tinker with a welding torch to find out if he could re-create a small creature he had seen in the yard of a friend. Using old farm equipment and whatever he could find lying around, he made his first piece of art and the rest, as they say, “is history.”

Since that first sleepless night, Swets has turned odd pieces of metal into more than 150 sculptures, which are now placed around his property for anyone to enjoy. These whimsical creations include a 20-foot-high, 2,000-pound Allosauras standing among the trees and the “barbershop” duet featuring singing alligators. There’s even an “L.A. Super Bug” that consists of a Volkswagen Beetle elevated above the ground by its long, steel, spider-like legs that could get out of any traffic jam. Bill muses, “Sometimes I’m into spaceships and sometimes I’m into flowers—whatever mood hits me.”

The Swetsville Zoo attracts upwards of 20,000 people per year from all over the world without any direct advertising. Some of the more common questions Swets has been asked include, “How long have you been doing this?” and “How long does it take to make one?” Then there’s his least favorite comment: “You’ve got too much time on your hands.”

As for having too much time on his hands, Swets chuckles and says he has more projects than he can possible get to. In fact, one can’t help notice the hands of this artist, which are extremely calloused and discolored because of burns he has sustained while imparting his own imagination and character to his creations.

The majority of the eclectic sculptures were completed between 1985 and 1995, some taking up to two months to create. Several of the pieces can be seen at the Fort Collins Lincoln Center and City of Loveland Museum. Swets has given names to each of his sculptures that he includes in his Swetsville Gazette, which serves as a sort of self-guided tour through the property. The pieces have names like “Jiminey,” a cricket who was “born and raised at Rocky Flats,” and a spaceship called “Centurion 21” that started life as a 1977 Buick. Then there are his “antique oddities,” such as a 1910 60-horse-cased steam engine and what he says is the world’s largest bicycle, which seats 10 people.

Swets has never charged anyone to view his zoo. A small donation box is the only visible symbol of capitalism to be found, and Bill admits that even with donations he has a “negative cash flow.” Still the expression on the faces of children is satisfaction in and of itself. “Little kids who have come before will come in and ask me, ‘Where’s such and such?’ It really made an impression on them,” says Swets..

Many people have tried to purchase his art over the years, but Swets says they are not for sale. “I turn down two or three offers a week,” he says. True to his calling, he considers these creations like his own children and lovingly cares for them as their curator. He plans to give them to his three children when he passes on. Meanwhile, he has a head full of other projects he would like to complete.

Perhaps the biggest compliment Bill has had came from a teenager years ago. He described him as sort of a rough-looking young man who apparently had visited before. He came up to Swets and said, “You’ll never know how many people you’ve influenced with this,” he said. Touched, Swets realized how one man’s hobby and love for his own art proves that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.