Article
Courtesy of The Herald-Tribune
By Earle
Kimel
Published February 18, 2016
Located just west of Hecksher Park at 512 W. Venice Ave.,
the seven-story Venice Avenue Condominium Association building was built
during the mid-rise development boom on the island of Venice nearly a
half-century ago.
Envisioned by developer John Caspersen as
rental apartments and converted to condominium shortly after
its completion, the building isn’t a luxury high rise, but
caters to retirees living on a budget.
Located on the north side of the Venice Avenue, between the
historic district and beaches, the Venice Avenue
Condominiums are in a highly visible part of town. The condo
lawn, though, does have some issues, with a few bare spots
prompted partly by excessive shade provided by the banyans.
For the past few years, condo owners have been working on
sprucing up the grounds, which were planted prior to the
concept of using Florida friendly vegetation.
This winter, the condo reworked a major part of its Venice
Avenue street front, dubbed the “Terra Verde Triangle”
installing a fountain and using plants such as Asiatic
Jasmine, Crotons and Foxtail Ferns. |
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Louisa Haug and Phyllis Andella stand in the middle
of a landscape beautification project dubbed the "Terra Verde
Triangle" at the Venice Avenue Condominium Association, 512 W.
Venice Ave., Venice. The project, which cost just under $2,900, was
partly paid for with a 50-50 matching grant from Sarasota County
through its Neighborhood Initiative Grant Program.
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And it received government money to pay for part of it.
The project cost $2,900, with half paid by Sarasota County through its
Neighborhood Initiative Grant Program.
“We said, 'Let’s start with just the triangle, because we don’t know what we
want to do with the rest of the lawn,'” said Louisa Haug, who with Phyllis
Andella, helped spearhead the grant. “We wanted to make that Florida
friendly.”
Sarasota County started the grant program back in 2002, and allots about
$99,000 per year for the grants, which are capped at $10,000 — and require a
50-percent match in sweat equity.
“We have quite a few neighborhoods that just do the cash,” said Miranda
Lansdale, a community outreach specialist with Sarasota County. But for
other neighborhoods, “that volunteer labor is quite a lifesaver for them.”
Sarasota County approved its 26th grant cycle in January, awarding a total
of $48,630.82 to eight applicants.
The Venice Condominium grant was awarded last year, under the “character”
category, which considers applicants interested in creating neighborhood
identity and beautification.
Grants are also awarded in other categories:
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“Leadership” for training programs, a community
directory, web site or newsletter, as well as workshop tuition.
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“Safety” for crime prevention or programs such as
pedestrian and bicycle safety or emergency response team training.
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“Environment” for protecting water and energy
resources and native plants and animals, as well as improving water
quality and removing invasive species like the Brazilian pepper and air
potato.
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“Health” for community gardens, playgrounds or
providing physical or mental fitness opportunities, or presentations
from health professionals at meetings.
Any neighborhood group can apply for a grant, and larger
projects can be applied for in phases. Representative must first first take
a workshop to learn about the grant program and process — the next round of
workshops will likely be in July.
For more information visit
www.scgov.net/neighborhoodservices and sign up for the electronic
newsletter.
So far, the Terra Verde Triangle has been a big hit with the neighbors.
“We’ve seen people we don’t even know come and stop,” Andella said. “A
little boy came up the other day — I was up on my lanai — he was a toddler,
two or three years old and he said ‘Mom, take my picture.”
“He knew where he wanted to stand, with the fountain in back of him,” she
added. “And I thought ‘yeah, we got it right, we did the right things.”
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