Ave Maria, Florida, United States, is a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

and

Census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Collier County, Florida Collier County is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 375,752; an increase of 16.9% since the 2010 United States Census. Its county seat is East N ...

History

Ave Maria, Florida was founded in 2005 by Ave Maria Development Company, a partnership consisting of the Barron Collier Companies and the Ave Maria Foundation led by

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

philanthropist

Tom Monaghan Thomas Stephen Monaghan (born March 25, 1937) is an American entrepreneur who founded Domino's Pizza in 1960. He owned the Detroit Tigers from 1983 to 1992. Monaghan also owns the Domino's Farms Office Park, located in the Ann Arbor Charter Town ...

, founder of

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

and leader of

Ave Maria University Ave Maria University (AMU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Ave Maria, Florida. It shares its history with the former Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which was founded in 1998 and moved its campus in 2007. The two schools wer ...

. Monaghan served as chancellor of Ave Maria University until February 2011. 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. In 2015-16, it was ranked the 40th top-selling master planned community in the United States, out of 230 such communities tracked. It earned the "Community of the Year" for seven consecutive years (2015-2021). In 2020 it broke its previous record for new home sales - selling 507 new homes during the year and ranking 38th on the list of Top Master Planned Communities in the USA. In January 2021, 77 new homes were sold in Ave Maria - an all-time monthly sales record for the town.

Commerce

Ave Maria is home to various institutions and businesses. Local news is covered by a monthly print magazine, ''Ave Maria Neighbors'', which shares stories of local families, a calendar of events, and topics of human interest in the community.

Ave Maria Oratory

The town was planned with the large Ave Maria church in the center, the facade of which displays sculptor Márton Váró's sculpture of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

, depicting the

Archangel Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

greeting the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

with the words "Ave Maria" (

Hail Mary The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...

). Váró's "Good Shepherd" sculpture is also featured inside the Oratory, also carved in marble from Cave Michelangelo in Carrara, Italy. 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. 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 The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an or ...

in 2008.

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 The wood stork (''Mycteria americana'') is a large American wading bird in the family Ciconiidae (storks), the only member of the family to breed in North America. It was formerly called the "wood ibis", though it is not an ibis. It is found in ...

Anhinga The anhinga (; ''Anhinga anhinga''), sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word ''anhinga'' comes from ''a'ñinga'' in the Brazilian Tupi language and means ...

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

and

hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...

. The region was sprayed more than 30 times via airplane with pesticides by the Collier Mosquito Control District in 2015 with

organophosphates In organic chemistry, organophosphates (also known as phosphate esters, or OPEs) are a class of organophosphorus compounds with the general structure , a central phosphate molecule with alkyl or aromatic substituents. They can be considered ...

and

pyrethroids A pyrethroid is an organic compound similar to the natural pyrethrins, which are produced by the flowers of pyrethrums (''Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium'' and '' C. coccineum''). Pyrethroids are used as commercial and household insecticides. In ...

, making it the most sprayed area in Southwest Florida. 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". EPA's 2006 re-registration document for Naled requires a 48-hour re-entry interval for farm workers as "Naled can cause

cholinesterase inhibition Cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs), also known as anti-cholinesterase, are chemicals that prevent the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine or butyrylcholine. This increases the amount of the acetylcholine or butyrylcholine in the syn ...

in humans".

References

External links

{{authority control Census-designated places in Florida Planned communities in Florida Populated places established in 2007 Populated places in Collier County, Florida 2007 establishments in Florida Christian communities