Millionaire builds town for faithful
AVE MARIA, Fla. — On a blazingly bright March morning, hundreds of prospective homebuyers flocked to a remote 5,000-acre construction site in southwest Florida, where a year ago there was little more than tomato fields, orange groves and peppers.
Visitors, mostly older couples, many Catholic, many from out of state, wandered through model homes, chatted with sales reps over bottled water and cookies, took trolley tours of the construction site, and snapped cellphone pictures of a 100-foot-high cathedral that dominates the town's center.
They were getting one of the first public glimpses of Ave Maria — "Hail Mary" in Latin — a new Florida town unlike any other in the United States.
It's being created by Domino's Pizza multimillionaire Thomas Monaghan, who five years ago envisioned a community that would draw residents who share traditional Catholic values.
"I was curious to see what it was all about," said Richard Tyerech, 68, a retired marketer of architectural products who lives in Naples, 30 miles away. "It's great that they can espouse the principles of Catholicism. It's a great place for a Catholic to live."
Supporters — including former Gov. Jeb Bush and Pope Benedict XVI — say Monaghan's new town will strengthen American Catholicism. Detractors have slammed Ave Maria as "Disney World for Catholics" and "country-club Christianity."
Yet, for those scouting for new homes amid the grind and whine of construction crews here, Ave Maria looks like any other fresh Florida development.
Promotional materials promise roomy homes, which range from about $170,000 to the high $600,000s, by builders Pulte, DiVosta and Del Webb; a commercial center with offices, shops, a Mexican restaurant, coffee shop, pub and ice-cream parlor; schools, parks, a golf course, fitness center and water park.
The nearby Immokalee, Fla., fire district will provide fire rescue; the Collier County sheriff's department will oversee law enforcement. Collier County will provide emergency medical services, and Naples Community Hospital will open a clinic.
"This isn't going ahead and creating your own Catholic America, this is being Catholics in America," said Michael Galligan-Stierle, vice president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. "It'd be great if we had five such cities in the nation, not just one."
Before the foundations for Ave Maria were even paved, Monaghan softened his initial commandments for the Collier County town, backing away from claims that it would ban birth control, pornography and abortion.
Still, crowds have come to look, and at least 200 people have bought homes since sales began in January, with the first of a projected 25,000 residents expected to move in this summer. About 5,800 people have taken the weekly trolley tours since February, according to a spokeswoman for Barron Collier Cos., the town's developer.
"The university is Catholic; the community is going to be everybody," said Blake Gable, vice president of real estate for Barron Collier and project manager for Ave Maria. "The cable, Comcast, is the exact same as everywhere. The commercial lease is the same as everywhere."
But the town's Catholic character remains unmistakable.
Ave Maria, which has been nearly $400 million in the making, has met with controversy at nearly every stage.
Defenders of Wildlife objected to the town's location, which the organization says encroaches on the habitat of the endangered Florida panther.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and other groups have criticized Monaghan for what they say is his attempt to impose his conservative religious ideology on residents.
Monaghan, who did not respond to requests for an interview, has said that the town will be open to people of all faiths, and that the ban on birth control applies only to the university, although the town will ban strip clubs and adult bookstores — something other Florida cities already do. As a special district within Collier County, Ave Maria will oversee its own roads and other infrastructure but will be subject to the county's laws.
