It's well known that scifi fans can go to extremes, but in Ohio, Stargate fans may have taken the cake!
A Stargate fan in Ashland County, built a life sized Stargate on his property just like the one on the show.
"We built it about 15 years ago," Phil Ventura said.
Phil wanted to spend time with his sons while they were in college, and created the perfect project to do so.
'We watched the entire 10 seasons'
They really started got hooked 30 years when the movie "Stargate" featuring James Spader and Kurt Russell was out.
"That's what kicked it off," Ventura said. "My older son watched that one with me."
That would lead to the 1997 television series "Stargate SG-1."
"We watched the entire 10 seasons," Ventura said. "The kids bought it for me on VHS and DVD."
Then came the spinoffs, "Stargate Atlantis," "Stargate Universe," the digital series "Stargate Origins" and the animated series, "Stargate Infinity."
"And then the kids got older, too, and it's like, well, they've got girlfriends now and they're moving out," Ventura said. "I understand the other different interests now and they don't want to spend that much time with their old man."
And so Phil decided on the project, which started 15 years ago. They used a plastic swimming pool to make the mold,
"It's got steel rebar inside of it," Ventura said. "We used a concrete vibrator that makes it a nicer, smoother finish."
They molded the star symbols, and poured a concrete base,
"It was extremely expensive," Ventura said of the very heavy Stargate.
"Probably 50,000 pounds. It's not something you want to drop on your toe."
Needless to say the project became an internet sensation, but the family has no interest in becoming insured as a tourist destination.
"I told my wife, I said, you know, people don't mind interesting things," Ventura said. "Unfortunately, some of them are, you know, not nice, they want to damage things. You just can't get around that."
So, for now enjoy his Stargate through photos.