No, but one does have to like the idea of the town center being a six-story Catholic Megachurch if they're going to invest in property there.
Is it just me, or does the Cathedral look like a mitre?
Posted on 07/23/2007 1:28:30 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
NAPLES, Fla. -- No, of course not, Ave Maria is not a Roman Catholic town, its builders say. Why would you think such a thing?
Yes, the streets have names like Annunciation Circle and John Paul II Boulevard. The town is laid out to catch the sunrise at a certain angle each March 25, the day Catholics celebrate the Feast of Annunciation. And the Catholic university whose towering 10-story church dominates the landscape bans condoms and warns that premarital sex can be grounds for expulsion.
But Ave Maria is open to everyone, said Blake Gable, project manager for the Barron Collier Cos., which is building the new town in partnership with Domino's Pizza founder Thomas Monaghan, an ardent Catholic.
"When I lived in Washington, D.C., I looked out my window and I saw the National Cathedral. I didn't feel like I was in a religious environment," Gable said. "It's never occurred to me that it's a Catholic community."
The builders of Ave Maria, whose name is Latin for Hail Mary, have been struggling to get the message out that anyone can live here ever since Monaghan's headline-grabbing comments in 2005, when the site was still just a sod farm. Monaghan told a Catholic group at the time that the town would be governed by Roman Catholic principles. He said stores wouldn't carry contraceptives or pornography, and cable TV would have no adult channels.
In response, a Wall Street Journal opinion column quoted a critic of Ave Maria as calling it a "Catholic Jonestown." The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida threatened to sue. Critics called it un-American. And Monaghan backed off.
Monaghan now says that Ave Maria University, the school he is also bankrolling, will follow strict Catholic guidelines, but the town will be largely allowed to grow uninhibited - except for no adult novelty stores or topless clubs. The developers say they will merely suggest that merchants not sell contraceptives or porn, and cable TV offerings will not be restricted.
Even with that, Monaghan seems disappointed. If he had his way, Ave Maria would be God's town.
"I thought we owned the real estate, so we can lease to whoever we want and put things in the contract, but there are laws and there were lawsuits out there," Monaghan said.
The developers say that they will allow any denomination to build a house of worship in Ave Maria, and that gays are welcome, too.
In fact, the Web site for the town and university makes no mention of Catholicism at all, not even noting that the school will be Catholic.
"Ave Maria reinvents hometown living with a flourishing new community complementing a new university," the site says. "Ave Maria is an exciting place to live, work, play and learn for every family, every lifestyle and every dream."
Monaghan has spent more than $200 million building the school, which opens next month and hopes to attract 5,500 students. It is the first Catholic university built in the United States in four decades. Gable and Monaghan repeatedly note that the university and town are two separate entities.
But the school's 1,100-seat church will be the undisputed focal point of the community, with the town center wrapping around it like a pastel-colored Italian village with overhanging balconies, verandas and glass storefronts.
Ave Maria University President Nicholas Healy Jr. said the school would "encourage students to live a Catholic moral life."
"At a number of schools, there's a problem with binge drinking or recreational sex," Healy said. "We don't permit that. ... It would be a very serious violation. We teach what the Catholic church teaches, and the Catholic church teaches that contraception is a grave moral evil and we accept that."
Barron Collier has spent about $200 million constructing the town and aims to house more than 20,000 residents. Gable said sales have exceeded expectations, with about 250 homes sold since February, though just a few of those people have moved in.
As for whether Jews or others might be uncomfortable living in a town called Ave Maria, he said: "Do people who live in San Francisco feel offended? San Antonio?"
New York retirees Henry and Roseann Knetter moved into their home about a month ago. As Catholics, the religion aspect was a big draw.
"It just appeared to be a really nice concept with the church in town," said Roseann Knetter, 64.
But they said it wasn't just religion that attracted them.
"We wanted to be in a town that was going to grow up from its grass roots," Knetter said.
"Ave Maria re-invents hometown living with a flourishing new community complementing a new University. Inspired by the eternal charm of Italy’s hill towns, it offers diverse homes at diverse prices and incomparable amenities, including a water park, as well as everything residents need for daily living. In short, Ave Maria is an exciting place to live, work, play and learn for every family, every lifestyle, and every dream."
The Town of Ave Maria is believed to be the first modern town to be developed in conjunction with a University. Located on what was once largely agricultural land, it has been designed to be a compact, walkable, self-sustaining town that reflects the community's rural roots while offering a full range of residential options and commercial services to its residents.
Importantly, Ave Maria has been designed to human scale. Street networks, distinctive character, and environmental sustainability are integral to its planning. It is to be a true community, where neighbors care about neighbors, friendships span generations, and a sense of pride is felt by every resident, student, and worker.
The Ave Maria community totals about 5,000 acres, of which nearly 20% has been designated as the University campus. Connecting the University and the Town is a Town Core anchored by the landmark Oratory and incorporating retail and commercial space as well as residential condominiums.
Three additional commercial centers will provide essential goods and services, entertainment and dining, enabling residents and students alike to live, work and play within the community, often traveling by foot or bicycle. For more information on commercial opportunities, please click here.
When completed, the Town will contain some 11,000 residential dwellings in a wide variety of price ranges and neighborhoods. From rental apartments to condominiums, and from starter to estate homes, Ave Maria will offer something for nearly everyone. For information on residential opportunities, please click here.
Community resources will include an on-site fire/sheriff/EMS building, as well as medical facilities provided in partnership with the NCH Healthcare System; all will be operational when the community opens.
A significant network of parks and recreational areas has been included; in fact, about 45% of the total town area is devoted to lakes and open space. The Collier County Public Schools have been gifted land for both an elementary and a middle school, and the University plans a K-12 parochial school to be operational when the first phase of the community opens.
The first phase of the Town, including representative housing and commercial areas is now operational.
Non-Catholics may apply
Friday, March 3, 2006
The Naples Daily News
Ave Maria officials have decided it’s time to set the record straight.
There’s not going to be a special cable provider that doesn’t carry X-rated channels.
The town isn’t going to be a Catholic utopia, where only practicing Catholics are welcome.
And no one is dictating what can or, in the case of Ave Maria, can’t be sold within the boundaries of the town.
“What we’re trying to do is build an open, inclusive community,” said Blake Gable, project manager for Barron Collier Cos. “Some (reports) would lead you to believe that this is going to be an exclusively Catholic community. I’m not Catholic, and I’ve been spending the past four years on this project. But it is a community based on family values.”
As first reported Thursday night on naplesnews.com and Bonitanews.com, there will not be any legal restrictions of contraceptives in the town of Ave Maria.
“It is critical to note that no restrictions will be enforced on contraceptives or any other inventory,” Ave Maria University founder Tom Monaghan and Barron Collier Cos. president Paul Marinelli said in a joint statement Thursday. “In fact, we are using the same lease for Ave Maria as the Barron Collier Cos. use elsewhere in Collier County, which prohibit certain uses that are inconsistent with traditional family values. Neither will there be restrictions enforced on programming on cable television.”
A recent Newsweek article said Ave Maria leaders were asking pharmacies not to carry contraceptives, and pharmacies that chose to honor those requests would be favored.
Gable said his company has made it clear since the beginning of the project that they would be asking companies to honor the wishes and beliefs of the town’s founder.
“This is what we have said all along,” Gable said. “Tom is spending (more than $200 million) to build a Catholic university, and those beliefs don’t stop on the edge of campus. We have just asked that in respect of the leadership’s wishes, companies refrain from selling contraceptives.”
Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said while Ave Maria has chosen not to legally restrict retailers from selling certain products, “it is still only half the story.”
The other half of the story falls on the 1,000 acres designated as the university.
Current university rules do not allow the campus health clinic to provide or offer reproductive health services, said AMU president Nick Healy. The same rules will stand once the permanent campus is completed, he said.
“I don’t think we can be a bona fide Catholic university and flagrantly go against Catholic (rules),” Healy said.
Healy said the university has come to a private agreement with Naples Community Hospital, which will have a clinic in the town, that would prohibit the hospital from providing reproductive health services to AMU students. Healy said he is unsure how the agreement would work out, since it is in the early stages.
But “arbitrarily discriminating” against who receives reproductive health services could lead to just as many problems as not allowing the services at all, said ACLU legal director Randall Marshall.
While a small group of private residents can get together to create rules governing a private community, like a condo or homeowners association, Marshall said Ave Maria is more than that.
“This is a project that is beyond this concept,” Marshall said. “They’re building a (town), and once this is a town, it is going to be open to the public.”
Not everyone who happens upon town will have the same beliefs as Ave Maria leadership; but that’s another myth officials are trying to bust.
In their joint statement, Monaghan and Marinelli said “the town will be open to all, regardless of age, religion or race. ... The controversy over contraceptives and the portrayal of Ave Maria as a Catholic town should not and cannot overshadow the value and importance of this event.”
Barron Collier Cos. have received more than 3,000 requests for information about residences in the community. While only about 1,000 private residences will be complete in the first phase of construction, it is expected the town eventually will have about 11,000 private residences. And Ave Maria officials hope that it’s a mix of Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
“This is not going to be a Catholic town,” Healy said. “We want the town to be open to everyone.”
Healy said rather than being based on Catholic norms and morals, the community will be based upon traditional family values that often support Catholic traditions.
“What people do in their own home is none of our business,” Healy said. “There has been no attempt to regulate or restrict that.”
Healy said neither the town nor the university would profit from Ave Maria being an exclusive community.
“I think the faculty would be very distressed if this was only a Catholic community,” he said. “We have many people on our staff and a few on our faculty who are not Catholic. Really I think this has been blown all out of proportion.”
I noticed when ABC gave it coverage, they HAD to show some “person” from ACLU, sticking her face in the camera to make her petulance known to the nation. Who cares?
If Ave Maria is private land, ACLU can stand outside the gates and stick their tongues out all they want.
One doesn’t have to be Catholic to think Ava Maria is a great idea!
>> reproductive health services <<
Abortion? Pap smears? Gynecological exams? Obstetrics? Contraception? Why the vague newspeak, Naples? Afraid Ave Maria might come across rational?
No, but one does have to like the idea of the town center being a six-story Catholic Megachurch if they're going to invest in property there.
Is it just me, or does the Cathedral look like a mitre?
LOL!
I would think that’s a good way to get converts!
And yes, the church DOES look like a mitre! Just a reminder, I would think, of what it’s all about.
The cathedral in Vegas looks like an A-frame. But it’s really airy and quite beautiful.
Head ‘em off at the pass!
You wrote:
“I hope the ACLU has as much of a problem with ISLAMBERG as they seem to have with Ave Maria.”
Ain’t never gonna’ happen!
Just a mite. :-)
methinks when the founders thought of freedom of religion they were looking to PROTECT the rights of folks to do just this, not force them to allow dirty movie channels, strip clubs, adult bookstores and public fornicators.
I don't know if I will ever visit this place but I will admit that I love how much it upsets the libs.
There was an Evangelical community in Chicago years ago composed of people who worked at the Cook County Hospital. I can’t remember its name, but I had some (Catholic) friends who bought a house there and were very happy. The biggest problem was that all decisions about the community had to be made by consensus, and it took forever to get everybody to agree. Also, their level of decision making was way too detailed: “Could the X family go on vacation,” for example.
This sounds more like a residential community that would have certain standards for its shops and surroundings, and would permit things like Nativity Scenes (gasp!), etc. I think any good Christian would be happy there.
Let’s hope it lives up to the expectations of the people who buy homes there. Otherwise, it would be subject to more ridicule than the ACLU can dish out.
It’s a great idea, and just the fact that it’s conservative will entice a lot of people to buy.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?- Luke 14:28-30
...It’s a great idea, and just the fact that it’s conservative will entice a lot of people to buy.
Did you forget your first two sentences that preceded it?
"Let’s hope it lives up to the expectations of the people who buy homes there. Otherwise, it would be subject to more ridicule than the ACLU can dish out."
Remind me not to confuse people by saying two thoughts in the same paragraph.
I’m sorry you chose to highlight the negative.
I'm sorry you included it in your post.
;o]
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