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Ave Maria, Florida

Coordinates: 26°20′12″N 81°26′12″W / 26.33667°N 81.43667°W / 26.33667; -81.43667
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Ave Maria, Florida
unincorporated community
Ave Maria Catholic Parish Church in the center of Ave Maria, Florida.
Ave Maria Catholic Parish Church in the center of Ave Maria, Florida.
Ave Maria, Florida is located in Florida
Ave Maria, Florida
Ave Maria, Florida
Location within Florida
Coordinates: 26°20′12″N 81°26′12″W / 26.33667°N 81.43667°W / 26.33667; -81.43667
CountryUnited States
StateFlorida
CountyCollier
Elevation
[1]
18 ft (6 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
34142
Area code239
FIPS code12-47625[2]
GNIS feature ID0287528[3]
WebsiteOfficial website

Ave Maria, Florida, United States, is a planned community and census-designated place in Collier County, Florida,[6] founded by Roman Catholic philanthropist Tom Monaghan of Domino's Pizza fame, who created the town to hold his Ave Maria University. Monaghan made controversial statements[7] about plans to enforce Catholic culture in the town at the time that it was founded; plans that have been largely abandoned.

History

Ave Maria, Florida was founded in 2005 by the Ave Maria Development Company, a partnership consisting of the Barron Collier Companies and the Ave Maria Foundation led by Roman Catholic philanthropist Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza and Ave Maria University. The development of the town was made possible when the Florida legislature created the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District, a limited local government whose purpose is to provide community infrastructure.[8]

Tom Monaghan's stated goal was for the town to be especially attractive for Catholics to move to. Many of the street names are Catholic in nature, and the center of town is anchored by a large Catholic Church. According to a 2007 interview on CNN,[9] Ave Maria founder Tom Monaghan stated that his 10-year plan for Ave Maria to have 11,000 homes, 25,000 residents and 5,000 students at Ave Maria University. He wanted to build a community where "a particular amount of Catholics, particularly serious Catholics, would want to live around a really high-quality Catholic University." As of 2023 the resident and student count goals have not been achieved. Ave Maria was ranked 18th in the United States for planned community home sales the US in 2022,[10] with 586 homes sold and has sold over 4,000 homes from 2007 to 2023.[11]

During the interview, Monaghan "insists [Ave Maria town] is open to everyone, not just Catholics''. Fellowship Church is a Baptist Church in Ave Maria that was founded in 2017.[12]

The CNN interviewer pressed Monaghan on statements he made wanting to ban pornography on the cable system in town or ban contraceptives from being sold. His response in the interview was "I said some things that I didn't know what I was talking about early on, yeah, we're not gonna break the law". Contraceptives were legal to sell in Florida when Monaghan gave the interview and reaffirmed in 2018 under the Comprehensive Family Planning Act.[13]

Geography

Ave Maria is 36 miles northeast of Naples, Florida, and part of Collier County. The town's elevation is 18 feet.[1] In 2022, Ave Maria's tapwater supply was praised as the best-tasting water in Florida.[14] Four water toxicity tests in 2007 and 2008 showed carcinogenic trihalomethanes above the legal limit for contaminants.[15]

Ecology

Ave Maria's location in southern Florida shares the same subtropical wetland ecosystem as the Florida Everglades. It is home to a biodiversity of birds such as wood storks, anhinga, heron and hawks. Alligators may be encountered near fresh water.[16] The region was sprayed more than 30 times via airplane with pesticides by the Collier Mosquito Control District in 2015 with organophosphates and pyrethroids,[17] making it the most sprayed area in Southwest Florida.[18] The Collier Mosquito Control District spokesman stated in 2012 to the Ave Maria Herald, "The chemical used in the spraying is Naled, an organophosphate that the EPA has determined to be extremely safe".[19] EPA's 2006 re-registration document for Naled requires a 48-hour re-entry interval for farm workers as "Naled can cause cholinesterase inhibition in humans".[20]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
20206,242—
U.S. Decennial Census[21]

2020 census

Ave Maria racial composition
(Hispanics excluded from racial categories)
(NH = Non-Hispanic)[22]
Race Number Percentage
White (NH) 3,505 56.15%
Black or African American (NH) 583 9.34%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH) 19 0.30%
Asian (NH) 155 2.48%
Pacific Islander (NH) 0 0.00%
Some Other Race (NH) 47 0.75%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH) 154 2.47%
Hispanic or Latino 1,779 28.50%
Total 6,242

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 6,242 people, 2,227 households, and 806 families residing in the CDP.

Commerce

Ave Maria is home to around 75 businesses, restaurants, and health care facilities - with land set aside for commercial expansion.[23]

Ave Maria Oratory

The band Scythian performs at a festival in front of the Ave Maria Oratory with Annunciation sculpture visible in the background.

The town was planned with the large Ave Maria church in the center, the façade of which displays sculptor Márton Váró's 30-foot-tall (9 m) sculpture of the Annunciation, depicting the Archangel Gabriel greeting the Virgin Mary with the words "Ave Maria" (Hail Mary). [24][25] Váró's "Good Shepherd" sculpture is also featured inside the Oratory, also carved in marble from Cave Michelangelo in Carrara, Italy.[26]

The building serves as the home of the Ave Maria Catholic Church, part of the Diocese of Venice, which serves as the parish for local residents and students.[27] One of the oratory's most distinctive characteristics is its steel structure, much of which is exposed internally and externally. The landmark church received an award from the American Institute of Steel Construction in 2008.[28]

References

  1. ^ a b "Elevation search for "Ave Maria, Fla."". Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  2. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  3. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  4. ^ "Florida by Place. Population, Housing, Area, and Density: 2000". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 10, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  5. ^ "Annual Estimates of the population for the Incorporated Places of Florida". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original (XLS) on May 8, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  6. ^ "Ave Maria Development Company". Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  7. ^ Cooperman, Alan (March 25, 2007). "Magnate's Decisions Stir Controversy". The Washington Post: On Faith. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  8. ^ "avemariastewardshipcd.org". Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  9. ^ The Rise of a Catholic Town: Ave Maria, Florida, retrieved May 20, 2023
  10. ^ "The Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities of 2022". RCLCO Real Estate Consulting. January 4, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  11. ^ Fish, Erica (April 13, 2023). "AVE MARIA SURPASSES 4,000 NEW HOME SALES". Barron Collier Companies. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  12. ^ "History". Fellowship Church. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  13. ^ "Chapter 381 Section 0051 - 2018 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate". www.flsenate.gov. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  14. ^ Rakoczy, Maria (April 6, 2022). "Drink up! Ave Maria's water tastes great". Ave Maria Sun. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  15. ^ "Toxic Waters: Ave Maria Utility Company". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  16. ^ "Campus Safety: Wildlife". Ave Maria University. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  17. ^ "Control Materials". Collier Mosquito Control District. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  18. ^ "Spray Map – Collier Mosquito Control District". Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  19. ^ "The Ave Maria Herald - AMSCD Briefed on Bond Refinancing, Mosquito Control". www.aveherald.com.
  20. ^ "EPA Reregistration Document for Naled" (PDF).
  21. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  22. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  23. ^ "Join the Business Community". Ave Maria. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  24. ^ "Ave Maria Oratory Quasi-Parish". Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  25. ^ "The Annunciation of Ave Maria by Sculptor Marton Varo". Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  26. ^ David Shnaider. "Memorial Statue for Alex Klucik Installed in Oratory". The Ave Maria Herald. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  27. ^ "Thousands welcome Ave Maria oratory into Roman Catholic Church". Retrieved April 4, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  28. ^ "Oratory at Ave Maria receives architecture award". Naples Daily News. June 25, 2008. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2012.

Media related to Ave Maria, Florida at Wikimedia Commons

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