The community was founded in 2005 by Ave Maria Development, a partnership of Barron Collier Companies and the Ave Maria Foundation led by Catholic entrepreneur Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza and Ave Maria University, which is located in the heart of town. Along with shops and restaurants, the town square also features the Ave Maria parish church with steel arches and a 30-foot-tall marble carving of the Annunciation.
History
Ave Maria was founded in 2005 by Ave Maria Development, a partnership consisting of Barron Collier Companies and the Ave Maria Foundation led by Catholic entrepreneur 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] The town was the first to develop under the Rural Lands Stewardship Area (RLSA) program.[9]
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. During a 2007 interview,[10] Monaghan insisted "[Ave Maria town] is open to everyone, not just Catholics". Fellowship Church is a Baptist church in Ave Maria that was founded in 2017.[11]
In a 2007 interview with CNN, Monaghan stated that his 10-year plan was 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 number of Catholics, particularly serious Catholics, would want to live around a really high-quality Catholic university."[12]
Ave Maria was ranked 18th in the US for planned community home sales in 2022.[13]
In June 2023, Collier County commissioners approved the expansion of Ave Maria by 1,000 acres.[9] This brought the town's size to 5,000 acres, which is the largest allowed under the county rules.[9] The Ave Maria university campus is not included in this acreage.[9] The new land will be used mainly for single family homes, as well as a new town center and additional retail sites.[9]
Since its establishment in 2005, the community of Ave Maria has sold over 5,000 homes, resulting in the emergence of new businesses, including the Midtown Plaza, which will house various retail establishments to support local economic growth.[14]
Education
Ave Maria is located in Collier County and residents attend Collier County public or private schools, some of which are located within the town.[15]
Ave Maria University
Ave Maria University opened on a temporary campus in 2003. Construction of the permanent campus began in 2005, and students were first welcomed in 2007.[16] Ave Maria University is home to the Mother Teresa Museum.[17]
The temperature rarely rises to 100 °F (38 °C) or lowers to the freezing mark.[22] Rainfall averages just over 23.13 inches per year, strongly concentrated during the rainy season (June to September) with its frequent showers and thunderstorms; on average, these four months deliver 80 percent of annual rainfall.[22] From October to May, the average monthly rainfall is less than 4.5 inches.[22] The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 66 °F (18.9 °C) in January to 83 °F (28.3 °C) in August, with the annual mean being 74.5 °F (23.6 °C).[22]
Ecology
Ave Maria's location in southern Florida shares the same subtropical wetland ecosystem as the Florida Everglades.[23] It is home to a diversity of birds such as wood storks, anhinga, heron and hawks. Alligators may be encountered near fresh water.[24] Visitors have access to a number of nearby nature centers, including the undeveloped wetlands of Camp Keais Strand, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Everglades, and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and Blair Audubon Center.[25] The surrounding wetlands region of Southwest Florida is a habitat for mansonia mosquitoes, creating a pest problem for humans, according to the Collier Mosquito Control District (CMCD).[26] Ave Maria and the surrounding area is sprayed regularly by CMCD aircraft with the pesticide naled to control mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus.[27][28] In 2022, Ave Maria's tapwater supply was praised as the best-tasting water in Florida.[29] Four water toxicity tests in 2007 and 2008 showed carcinogenic trihalomethane levels above the legal limit for contaminants.[30]
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 6,242 people, 2,227 households, and 806 families residing in the census-designated place.[33]
Commerce
Ave Maria is home to over 60 businesses, a water park, recreational parks, an indoor marketplace with local vendors, an amphitheater, dog park, trails, playgrounds, bocce and tennis courts, and a fitness center.[34][35] The main Ave Maria Town Center has an open-air walkable design and covers 100,000 square feet.[36]
Ave Maria has condominiums, attached villas, and single family homes, with plans for a 300-unit apartment complex announced in 2023.[9][37]
Ave Maria parish
The band Scythian performs at a festival in front of the Ave Maria Oratory with Annunciation sculpture visible in the background
The face of the church 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).[38][39][40] It took Váró three years to complete the sculpture.[41] Váró's "Good Shepherd" sculpture is featured inside the church; it was also carved in marble from Cave Michelangelo in Carrara, Italy.[42]
The church is part of the Diocese of Venice, and serves as the parish for local residents, students, and visitors.[43][44] One of the building's most distinctive characteristics is its steel structure, much of which is exposed internally and externally.[41][45] In 2008, the parish received an Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel award from the American Institute of Steel Construction.[46][47] A reward was also given by the American Institute of Architects. Tours of the church are available to the public.[48]
