MEDALLION OPENS MODELS IN RIVER PLANTATION
Medallion Home has opened two furnished models in the River Plantation community in Parrish. The Harbour floor plan starts at $159,400, and the St. Croix at $164,400.
River Plantation is designed to accent the natural setting and has amenities for sports enthusiasts. Homes range in size from 1,524 to more than 3,000 square feet. River Plantation, where Medallion bought more than 100 lots last year, is master-planned for 457 homes, with about two-thirds of them built.
Medallion Home is building houses in Parrish (Gamble Creek Estates, Twin Rivers and River Plantation), Bradenton (Country Meadows, Bella Sole, Harbour Walk and The Reserve), Sarasota (Riva Trace and Stone Walk Preserve), North Port (Bobcat Trail) and Mount Dora (Lakes of Mount Dora).
MAGAZINE HONORS LOCAL BUILDER
Josh Wynne of Josh Wynne Construction has been recognized by Professional Remodeler Magazine in a feature story on outstanding youg contractors titled "Forty Under 40.".
Wynne, 37, designed and built two LEED for Homes/Platinum-certified houses that had the highest scores in the world at the time of their completion, including Florida's first LEED-Platinum certified home.
His "Power Haus" residential project was named LEED's Outstanding Single Family Home of the Year at Greenbuild 2011, and was recognized as most energy-efficient home in the country.
Other awards include the 2012 EnergyValue Housing Award; 2011 NAHB Best in American Living Award; and 2011 USGBC Florida Gulf Coast Chapter LEED for Homes Outstanding Project of the Year.
KEN THOMPSON DAY IN SARASOTA
Longtime Sarasotans will remember one of the most influential citizens in the city's history — Ken Thompson. His career is described in a newly released book by local historian Jeff LaHurd, "The Rise of Sarasota; Ken Thompson and the Rebirth of Paradise."
"Thompson guided Sarasota through the post-World War II building boom and well beyond," said LaHurd. "His 38-year tenure distinguished him as the longest serving city manager in the country." Thompson took office on Feb. 1, 1950.
The city commission is honoring Thompson's legacy by proclaiming Feb. 1 as Ken Thompson Day. The Friends of the History Center will hold a party from 6 to 8 p.m. that day at the Chidsey Building, 701 N. Tamiami Trail, to celebrate the occasion, along with a fund-raising book signing for LaHurd's book. LaHurd also will give a talk about Thompson's career.
"He was the consummate professional; his intelligence, honesty and integrity unquestioned," writes LaHurd in the book. "Elmer Berkel, one of the mayors Thompson served in the 1970s, called him the most brilliant man he had ever met. Another mayor, Jack Gurney, thought of him as a patrician gentleman."
When Thompson died at age 91, Herald-Tribune Editor Waldo Proffitt called him "the architect of Sarasota."
