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.
On June 29, 2022, QGM prepared a Proposal of $10,195 and 90-day Schedule for engineer/landscape drawings to rework the existing plans to reflect the new mural and to add new lettering “Welcome to” and “Immokalee My Home” for the Welcome Sign to reflect the new community supported design.
A Notice to Proceed was issued on August 4, 2022. There is no water at the site. A Change Order in the amount of $2,622 was processed as additional services QGM to secure a FDOT permit for a directional bore crossing SR29 to bring water to an irrigation meter at the site. Change Order #2 for an additional 90 days was approved due to the upcoming holiday and uncertainty of how much longer Immokalee Water & Sewer District and FDOT may need to process and release the utility permit for the FDOT directional bore application submitted by QGM on 10.28.22. QGM incorporated FDOT and Immokalee Water and Sewer District’s comments into the final plan.
On 01.20.23 Staff issued a Request for Quotes for the construction of the monument sign. An on-site, Pre-Bid Meeting was conducted on 2.10.23 QGM provided written responses to the bidder’s questions on 2.14.23. The quotes were received on 02.20.23 and are being reviewed. Additional documentation was provided to the County’s Procurement Services Division and they authorized Staff to proceed with the lowest bidder to award the contract provided the prepared Cost Reasonablenenss study is accepted. Upon approval of the requested Purchase Order for the Contractor, the awarded Contractor will be issued a Notice to Proceed to commence work on the welcome sign.
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, 2021 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. Currently, construction on the Panther Crossing sign is on hold until the needed easement acquisition is finalized.
Welcome Sign at Triangle Area