Welcome Sign at Panther Crossing
SR 29 at Panther's Crossing/Farmworker's Village Project
In August 2018, Q. Grady Minor (QGM) completed the final initial Bird of Paradise design for a welcome sign; however, the construction of the welcome monument sign was on hold until the completion of the donation of the Sign Easement which was approved by the Board of County Commissioners on May 24, 2022.
In September 2020, the MSTU approved the “Field of Dreams” mural proposal, which received over 60% of the community’s votes in a survey. This new sign design reflects the culture of the community.
A Notice to Proceed was issued on August 4, 2022 to QGM. QGM incorporated FDOT and Immokalee Water and Sewer District’s comments into the final plan.
On January 20, 2023 Staff issued a Request for Quotes for the construction of the monument sign. An on-site, Pre-Bid Meeting was conducted on February 10, 2023. Quotes were received on February 20, 2023and the County’s Procurement Services Division authorized Staff to proceed with the lowest bidder, Vetor Contracting, to award the contract after the Cost Reasonableness study was accepted. The Purchase Order for the Contractor was issued on March 22, 2023.
An Artist Agreement with Martha M. Cantu was executed for her artwork. This was for the same mural as displayed at the Welcome Sign at S 1st Street/Eustis Avenue. Ms. Cantu started her mural on July 8, 2023 and completed the mural on July 12, 2023.
The final inspection passed on February 12, 2024. On February 14, 2024 the County issued the Certificate of Completion. The Final Walk -Through was performed on March 8, 2024, and QGM issued their sign and sealed Certificate of Completion to complete the project. A&M Property Maintenance LLC has taken on the maintenance.
Welcome Sign at 1st Street
Congratulations to the winning artist, Martha M. Cantu, for her “Field of Dreams” mural.
In 2018, the MSTU board approved two monument designs from Q. Grady Minor & Associates, P.A. for monuments located at the Farm Workers Village entrance (Panther Crossing) on SR 29 and on the corner of South 1st and East Eustis Avenue located across the Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee. In late 2019, Lykins Signtek was awarded the construction contract to do repairs to the monument located on SR29 and New Market Road, replace the monument located on South 1st Street and East Eustis Avenue.
The Immokalee Beautification MSTU partnered with the United Arts Council of Collier County (UAC) to facilitate a “Call for Artists” to redesign the “Welcome” signs in Immokalee. Eleven (11) artists submitted proposals and three (3) proposals were selected to advance to community review. After a week of online voting, over 4,500 votes were casted to select the winning artist. Laura Burns, Executive Director of the UAC announced the winner and noted the overwhelming response at the September 23, 2020 Immokalee MSTU Meeting. The majority of the online voters were very locally connected to Immokalee. The Survey reflected voting participants as: 68% lived-in Immokalee, 50% worked-in Immokalee and 76% were raised or attended schools in Immokalee.
Congratulations to the winning artist, Martha M. Cantu, for her “Field of Dreams” proposal receiving over 60% of the votes.
Artist, Ms. Cantu completed the mural on the sign located downtown on First Street and Eustis Avenue. The installation of the lighted lettering and landscaping was completed on March 1, 2021.
The sign on the corner of State Road 29 and New Market Road was installed on June 6, 2021 and landscaping completed on August 2, 2021.
Welcome Sign at Triangle Area