Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Governor to visit home site today
By CHASE SQUIRES
Published March 12, 2005
As the deadline to finish the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition project in Seminole loomed, Gov. Jeb Bush planned a visit today to crews that have erected a 3,500-square-foot house in less than seven days and congratulate them on the effort and the show's charitable deeds.
Bush was scheduled to visit shortly after noon at the 99th Way N home of James Dolan, a 30-year-old father of three blinded in the Nov. 18 RadioShack shootings in St. Petersburg. Two others were shot and killed in the attack before the gunman killed himself.
ABC's Extreme Makeover crew has worked with Lexington Homes since Sunday in the quiet neighborhood, first demolishing the 1960s-era ranch house of Dolan, his wife and children, then replacing it with a house custom designed to meet a blind person's needs.
In addition to more than 1,000 volunteers, professional builders and television crew members, hundreds of fans have gathered at the site daily to see star Ty Pennington and other cast members, while neighbors, schools, Girl Scouts and others have donated food and supplies.
The Dolan family was whisked from its home Sunday on a vacation to Puerto Rico while ABC filmed the makeover for a show expected to air in five to eight weeks. The Dolans are due to return Sunday, with the unveiling between noon and 4 p.m. Visitors are welcome, but they are encouraged to park at St. Petersburg's Tyrone Square Mall, where buses will offer free rides from the northwest parking lot to the neighborhood, where parking is scarce.
The project started big and has snowballed as volunteers and donations have rolled in. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays announced a $2,500 donation Friday to help pay for training of a donated guide dog for Dolan, and the Dolans' Lutheran church, Christ the King of Largo, has raised more than $37,000 for the family through the group Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
Also, the dean of the University of South Florida's College of Engineering, Louis Martin-Vega, announced a scholarship for the Dolans' 12-year-old son, Charlie, who has an intense interest in robotics. East Lake High School's robotics team is designing Charlie's bedroom with a custom robotic arm. And a national organization of engineering students, Project Lead the Way, has offered to pay for Charlie's college textbooks.
USF's athletic department is also donating season tickets to university sporting events.
To capitalize on the enthusiasm Extreme Makeover generates, ABC will launch an effort called A Better Community after a two-hour program starting at 7 p.m. Sunday. Viewers will be urged to visit ABC.go.com and learn more about community organizations they can donate to, including Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross and 1-800-Volunteer.org.
John Riddle, spokesman for the Dolan family project, said Friday that work was more than 10 hours ahead of schedule. Exterior work continued Friday, with painters touching up the stucco walls and crews pouring the concrete driveway and installing landscaping.
[Last modified March 12, 2005, 00:48:09]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
