New Catholic university and university town to be developed in Collier Coun

By: Heather Felton

   (Naples - Nov. 21, 2002) Developers announced plans to establish a Catholic university and university town in eastern Collier County. Officials unveiled plans for the new Ave Maria University – the first major new Catholic University founded in 40 years – and the town of Ave Maria, which will support the growing campus, to be located near Naples.

Last March, the then Ave Maria College, in Ypsilanti, Mich., announced that it was researching several possible sites in Naples to establish a permanent main campus and develop the college into a major Catholic university with branches and programs overseas.

The college was founded in 1998 by the Ave Maria Foundation, a Catholic lay apostolate established by Thomas Monaghan, Domino’s Pizza founder and former owner of the Detroit Tigers. It had 135 students enrolled full time and was located on a small campus with two academic buildings and some residential housing.

Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Ave Maria Foundation had researched the possibility of moving the college to an office park owned by Monaghan in Ann Arbor and expanding it to accommodate as many as 1,500 students. Because the Ann Arbor Township Board was not expected to pass the zoning request, the Ave Maria Foundation turned its eyes on Florida.

Knowing of the Ave Maria Foundation’s interest in the area, officials with the Barron Collier Companies, a major southwest Florida real estate and agriculture company, contacted the college to propose locating the new university on the Companies’ extensive property in eastern Collier County. A partnership soon developed.

“We wanted to build a major Catholic university in the southern part of the United States with the highest standards. I can’t think of a better place than one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, which is centered around Naples, Fla.,” said Monaghan, the chairman of the Ave Maria Foundation. “This location will be very attractive to students who want a Catholic education. It will offer the best of both worlds – the great quality of life of Naples and a new dynamic Catholic and educational community.”

The university is planned to offer a full curriculum of liberal arts, sciences and engineering programs and a graduate program offering masters and doctoral degrees. An initial enrollment of 650 students is expected to grow to about 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students over several decades. It is also expected to boost a Division I-caliber athletics program.

Monaghan will provide about $200 million in seed money for the university, while the Barron Collier Companies will donate the more than 750 acres, which will house the university campus. It is targeted to open no later than the fall semester of 2006.

Meanwhile, a seven-acre interim campus is already under construction in Naples and will be ready for Fall 2003.

The town will be developed through a partnership between Ave Maria University and the Barron Collier Companies, which currently owns the land. The partners plan to invest $100 million in the first phase of the town. The construction on the town will begin at the same time as the university campus and is expected to grow in conjunction with school. It will be a self-sustained community in keeping with the area’s rural character. It is also designed to meet the area’s recently approved “Rural Stewardship” guidelines.

“It is truly a unique approach to educational and land planning,” said Paul Marinelli, president of the Barron Collier Companies. “Developing both academic and community features at the same time allows us to create an environment where living and learning form an integrated whole. The campus will be an intrinsic part of the town, and participating in town life will be an enriching aspect of the university experience.”

Bishop John J. Nevins, who is also on the university’s Board of Ecclesial Advisors, said the new university will be a great asset to the educational needs of the entire state, as well as the Venice Diocese.

“It is exciting to think that our diocese will include what may some day be the Notre Dame of the south,” he said.

During the press conference, Monaghan also formally announced the university’s new school leadership team of Nicholas J. Healy, president, Michael J. Healy (no relation), provost, and Father Joseph Fessio, chancellor.

Nicholas Healy said he was pleased to be involved in this project because there are relatively few Catholic institutions of higher learning in the southern United States. Florida, he said, has only three, making the state an excellent source for potential regional students.

“There is only one Catholic college for about every 800,000 Florida Catholics,” he said. “Across the nation, the average is closer to one for every 300,000 Catholics. Combining the under-served Catholic educational market with the attractiveness of going to school in southwest Florida allows Ave Maria tremendous potential.”